The lowdown on SD Eibar

Barça face their final league game of the campaign on Saturday at 6.00pm in Ipurua against Eibar. We take a closer look at the blaugranes' Basque opponents. 

Where are they from

The city of Eibar is in the Basque Country, located roughly halfway between Bilbao and San Sebastián. Population figures are vague and change over the years, but with around 30,000 people, it has a strong claim to be the smallest town to ever have a club in La Liga.

History

The Sociedad Deportiva Eibar (‘Eibar Sports Society') was formed in 1940 out of two informal pre-Civil War clubs. They originally wore red and white stripes modelled on Athletic Club Bilbao but in 1943 obtained a set of Barça shirts and to this day still wear the famous blaugrana stripes.

After playing more seasons in the Spanish Second Division than any other club, they reached La Liga for the first time in 2014. They were relegated after their first season, but due to Elche being demoted on financial grounds, they were reinstated and have stayed in the top flight ever since.

Stadium

Surrounded by mountains, the Estadio Municipal de Ipurua is surely the most scenic venue in La Liga. It was also the smallest, despite the recent expansion to 8,050 seats, until Huesca were promoted, whose Estadio El Alcoraz is even smaller.

Fans

The club are known as the armagiñak, or ‘gunsmiths’, due to weapons manufacture being one of the most important local industries, and it is fan-owned following a crowdfunding campaign when the club joined La Liga for the first time. The project captured the imagination of football romantics all over the globe – Eibar has shareholders in some 65 different countries!

So what’s with all the Scottish flags? Founded in 2001, Eibar’s biggest supporters group is called Eskozia la Brava ('Scotland the Brave') in recognition of the unique passion and loyalty of Scottish football fans. They’re particularly fond of Celtic, who were special guests at their 75th anniversary match in July 2015.

Head to head

After seven seasons of meetings, Barça have yet to lose to lose to Eibar and eight of the 13 meetings have ended in wins by three or more goals. The 2-2 draw at Ipurua two seasons ago (after Barça had already won the league) was the first time Eibar had ever recorded points against Barça, so it was a huge shock earlier this season when they managed a 1-1 draw at Camp Nou, and were even heading for a win until Ousmane Dembélé managed an equaliser.

Form guide

Eibar spent most of the season in the lower-mid part of the table, but their form took a dive from January onwards. Just four draws and no wins in 16 games sent them hurtling down to the bottom of the table.

May has finally brought an improvement, with back-to-back wins against Alavés and Getafe and a draw with Betis. But it hasn’t been enough to save them from the drop, and a 4-1 defeat to Valencia last week finally confirmed that their seven-year spell in the top flight is over.

The squad

Most capped internationals: Takashi Inui (Japan, 36), Yoshinori Muto (Japan, 29), Pape Diop (Senegal, 20), Marko Dmitrović (Serbia, 18), Kévin Rodrigues (Portugal, 3), Bryan Gil (Spain, 2)

Top scorer 2019/20: Kike García (12), Bryan Gil (4)

The boss

José Luis Mendilibar never played higher than the second division as a player, and after retirement coached a number of mainly Basque lower league clubs, including Eibar, who he very nearly guided to promotion in 2005. His growing reputation earned him jobs at Athletic Bilbao, Valladolid, Osasuna and Levante, before he finally returned to Eibar in 2015, where he has remained ever since.