S.D. Eibar ready for maiden La Liga outing

By Mark Wynne
Updated: 23 August, 2014

After a long wait for arguably the most important fixture since the club’s conception, this Sunday will see fans and players alike of Basque outfit S.D. Eibar will finally experience their team play in La Liga for the first time ever.

After winning the Liga Adelante, and therefore promotion to Primera División, the fixture computer couldn’t have delivered a more exciting start to the season. It churned out a mouthwatering Basque derby between Gaizka Garitano’s men and Real Sociedad, and a trip to reigning champions Atlético Madrid’s Vicente Calderón a week later.

As things stand, no less than 12 signings have been made by the club in an attempt to deepen the ranks ahead of its inaugural season in Spain’s top flight. From players with La Liga experience to securing the services of two of last season’s standouts in Dani Garcia and Lillo, the club has put together what looks like a competitive squad.

As well as adding to the resources available in terms of players, Eibar’s Ipurua stadium has been temporarily expanded by around 800 temporary seats, pushing the capacity to just over 6,000. The ground’s north stand has seen 550 seats added to it, with 250 more added to the west stand.

With a plethora of signings coming in to the club and added demand for tickets being appealed to, El Centrocampista spoke to a few Eibar fans via social media to gauge their opinions and see what their ideal starting lineups would be for the first game.

Rikardo Agirregomezkorta told us this would be his ideal team:

He said: “Maybe when new signings Derek Boateng and Piovacciani get a bit of match fitness and sharpness, I’d put them in the squad in place of Errasti and Arruabarrena respectively. Or maybe Garitano could surprise me and play Ángel behind Arruabarrena instead of up front!”

Another fan, Ruben Flores, would send a slightly different squad out:

Finally, Javier Azpilicueta thinks this XI should start against Real Sociedad:

He added: “It’s difficult to pick a starting lineup because of the arrival of so many new players. I trust in Gaizka [Garitano] though so we’ll have to see the kind of team he puts out.”

It appears then that the fans are content with their new signings and feel they are suitably prepared to take on Champions League-hunting Real Sociedad. However it does appear that the backbone of the legendary squad that achieved promotion should retain their places, especially standouts like Xabi Irureta, Raúl Navas and Albentosa, Ander Capa and Mikel Arruabarrena.

The season will be a long and difficult one but everyone associated with the club must feel that they can survive relegation and compete at the highest level.

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