Eibar get off to a flying start

SD Eibar have been one of the standout out sides of the current Liga BBVA campaign. They lay eighth in the table, making them the best performing promoted side of all the European leagues. Maintaining their good run of form will not be easy this weekend however, as matchday 21 sees them playing hosts to very stiff opposition in the form of the reigning Liga BBVA champions: Atlético Madrid.

The Gaizka Garitano-led team have experienced back-to-back promotions: starting with the step up from the Segunda División B to the Liga Adelante during the 2012-13 campaign and then onwards and upwards to the Liga BBVA last season (2013-14). This season the armeros have already picked up 27 points after recording seven wins, six draws and seven defeats. As of writing they are the highest ranked Basque side in the league table, ahead of Real Sociedad (12th) and Athletic Club (13th), despite having the smallest budget of the three clubs.

Eibar are experiencing similar success to that achieved by Andoni Goikoetxea’s CD Numancia team during the 1999-2000 campaign, when the Castile and León club were also competing in the Spanish topflight. Just like Eibar, Numancia were on 27 points and occupied eighth place at the conclusion of the first half of the league season. The Soria side were hovering just above the relegation zone by the end of that season, finishing seventeenth and ensuring their safety in the division with a total of 45 points.

However, the Albacete Balompié side managed by Benito Floro during the 1991-92 campaign outdid both these teams. Like Eibar, Albacete achieved back-to-back promotions to climb from the Segunda División B to the Liga BBVA. At that season’s halfway point, the Castile-La Mancha outfit had 23 points, but it is important to bear in mind that a victory was only worth two points back then. Had they earned three points per win, as teams do nowadays, that tally would have read 33.

In the European table of promoted sides in the top leagues, Eibar sit in joint first place with Italian team U.S. Città de Palermo, who are also on 27 points and sit in eighth place, as Eibar are in the Liga BBVA. The Basques accomplishment is more remarkable though, given that this is their debut season in the Spanish top division.

With so much already achieved, Garitano’s charges are now gearing up to face Atlético Madrid this Saturday at 6pm. The rojiblancos are on 44 points and lie third, just behind Real Madrid and FC Barcelona. It won’t be a stroll in the park for Simeone’s men though as they take on an Eibar side that have become the revelation of the championship.