After seven seasons in Spain’s top division, Eibar, the smallest club to ever reach this level, have been relegated. They finished rock bottom and it’s a deserved relegation, as they simply weren’t good enough.
Eibar’s transfer business has been really good over all these years, but their signings last summer didn’t fit in and weren’t up to scratch.
Eibar also seemed to struggle from the lack of home fans. They’ve often had some of the best home form in LaLiga, thanks to the stands that are close to the pitch in their tiny stadium, but this year they had the league’s worst home form.
Despite having a few good away wins early in the season, Eibar soon fell into the relegation zone and eventually ended up bottom. They made a go of it across the final few weeks, but that was too little too late.
Some players stood out individually, with on-loan winger Bryan Gil catching the eye, with goalkeeper Marko Dmitrovic doing all he could and with Kike Garcia scoring 12 goals.
The problem is that there wasn’t much more after this. Coach Jose Luis Mendilibar has consistently been one of the best in Spain, but there was only so much to do.
Now, back in the second tier, Eibar will try for promotion, but their natural place is the second division. That’s where they’ll be next year.
