Eibar's remarkable journey takes them to the edge of Europe

José Luis Mendilibar didn’t see the moment his team drew level with Real Sociedad and took a step closer to a place they’ve never been before. Eibar’s manager had long since left the bench having been sent off for doing what he does – shouting at one of his players – and as the final minute slipped away so did he, leaving his place in the stand too. He was heading to the dressing room, defeated, when he heard a noise. He knew something had happened but didn’t know what. When he got there, they told him. Out in the rain at Anoeta, Pedro León, his Pedro León, had scored, the ball squirming through Gero Rulli’s hands. It was the 93rd minute and they had done it somehow: in Guipúzcoan weather, the Guipúzcoan derby finished 2-2.

In the dressing room, Mendilibar celebrated; on the pitch, so did his players. There was no time for more, but there was time for León to pause as he departed. On the touchline, he apologised for the “effusiveness” of the celebration. “It’s the pressure,” he said. The importance, too. This wasn’t just the Guipúzcoa derby – one of three Basque provinces, population 707,298 – it was, headlines said, the “Euro derby” too. Fifth versus seventh, an opportunity for the season’s revelations to reach unexpected places: the Champions League for Real Sociedad, the Europa League for Eibar. Exhausted, eventually Eibar equalised, drawing level with sixth-placed Villarreal, while la Real reached fourth-placed Atlético Madrid. “Happy news,” Mendilibar called it.

Happy? You can say that again. So Mendilibar did – although they were more interested in him saying things about the referee, Undiano Mallenco, who’d been busy dishing out cards like a croupier on crack. He flashed four of them inside 15 minutes and both teams had players sent off for two yellows. The Sociedad striker Juanmi got his first just after opening the scoring, lifting his shirt to reveal a homage to Pablo Raez, who’d just died from leukaemia; Florian Lejeune got his second for not very much at all. That was in the first minute of the second half; Juanmi’s second came 12 minutes later. Then there was a questionable penalty not given for Eibar, a questionable penalty that was given for la Real, and Mendilibar’s red – for shouting at Mauro dos Santos, his centre-back.

“Undiano brought the tanks out even though no one had declared war,” said El País. “Undiano ruins the derby,” offered AS. As for Mendilibar, he didn’t say much. “People always want to put some sauce on it,” he replied, when he was asked again. “You’d think the only thing there was out there was a sending off, but this was a nice game.” He was right. The ref hadn’t helped it, but he hadn’t ruined it, either. There was much to enjoy and other things besides the cards and the penalties: 27 shots and four goals, for a start. And an equaliser to end. “I thought we’d lost,” Eibar’s manager admitted.

Instead, they had picked up a crucial point. The official table shows both of Guipúzcoa’s teams trailing on goal difference, although they’re both effectively ahead for now because, at the end of the season, teams level on points are separated by head-to-head – and so far that advantage is theirs; Eibar, having beaten Villarreal 2-1 at Ipurua and la Real, having won 2-0 against Atlético at Anoeta. Yes, they have played a game more than the rest – Villarreal go to Osasuna on Wednesday night and Atlético visit Deportivo on Thursday – but for Eibar this was a significant step closer to a place they have never been and never, ever imagined they go. Hell, they never really imagined they would be here, let alone there.

Even if Eibar don’t make it into Europe – and, no, they probably still won’t – the fact that there is a chance of them getting there is something. That people are even talking about it is an achievement, or it would be if people really talked about it. This has been said here before, but it is easily forgotten the more Eibar become a fixture, just another face in the first division, so let’s say it again:

Eibar are playing only their third season in primera and, while it’s true they were relegated at the end of their first only to be reinstated because of Elche’s economic problems, that was exactly what everyone expected, little more than logic. They’d initially been blocked from going up in the first place basically because they were too small. It’s only three and a half years since they were in Spain’s regionalised, 80-team, theoretically amateur Second Division B, and they came up from the Second Division A despite having the league’s smallest budget. On their first day in primera, they beat Real Sociedad and on Tuesday they drew with them, but the point is more that they even played them. There have been periods in their history when Real’s B team were in higher divisions.

There’s more. The only reason Eibar increased the stadium from the already expanded 5,173 it held on that opening day was that the league made them and the town has a population of 27,378. To put that in perspective, every person there could travel to the Bernabéu and there would still be room for 53,666 Madrid fans. Lying in the Ego valley, it’s not like there’s a hinterland either: Bilbao and San Sebastián are within an hour. They’re still the smallest club around. But, Mendilibar says: “It’s not all about budget and money.”

This weekend, Eibar don’t travel to the Bernabéu, but Real Madrid do come to them. Read that line again, it’s still one some Eibar fans can’t quite believe three years on: on Saturday, Real Madrid come to Ipurua, just as Barcelona have been, and Atlético. Sure, Eibar were beaten – although at the Bernabéu they drew – but those teams have been and will keep coming. Now, maybe others will come too: European teams.

Of the other sides competing for that final Europa League place, no one is as consistent as Eibar, nor as clear in their identity. Against Sociedad, two of their three top scorers started on the bench, Adrián and Sergi Enrich rested for a run of three games in seven days, while Ander Capa, the full-back Barcelona wanted, was injured. Yet still the approach was the same. The captain, Dani García, said: “The only people talking about Europe are outside the dressing room: we’re not looking at the table.” But there really is a chance they could do this. And if they do, it will be deserved. They have not fluked wins, quite the opposite. They impressed at the Bernabéu and against Barcelona, despite ultimately losing heavily. Last weekend Jorge Sampaoli admitted they had deserved more at Sevilla.

“No one talks about us,” the striker Enrich said. When they do, they tend to be wrong. Ah, Eibar, little Eibar, on their tiny, muddy pitch with their long balls, their fight and their elbows; tough, aggressive, defensive Eibar, digging in. It’s just not true. Often, even those who admit that what they’re achieving is impressive insist they’re not much fun to watch. To which the best answer is: try watching them. This is a good side playing good football. “Mendilibar has evolved but his footballing principles never change,” says his assistant, Iñaki Bea. “We’re not ‘Taliban’ about it, but we’re not going to close off and just sit deep.” So there is pressure, intensity, a high line, a determination to step up and play in the opposition’s half: no team in the division has won the ball back more than them and only Las Palmas have caught the opposition offside more often.

It is risky at times but Mendilibar has always been brave and with games, victories, comes confidence. That identity is enhanced. “We’re trying more than we did: we’re more daring,” he says. They’re swift to get the ball wide and players forward. Only three teams have taken more shots and only Madrid, Barcelona, Sevilla and Atlético have scored more. No one, meanwhile, has delivered more crosses. No player has delivered more than León, who Mendilibar, having worked with him at Valladolid, fought to sign. León didn’t think twice, even though he knew that meant getting shouted at: no one has connected so well with him, nor brought as much out of him. Two thirds of their attacks come from his side. The beneficiaries have been Enrich – superb all season, clever in his movement, the perfect man to play off – and Adrián, converted into a hugely successful second striker. The three of them have scored 14 of Eibar’s last 16 – 27 in total after that last-minute derby strike.

And so here they are, Eibar on the edge of Europe. On Tuesday they didn’t travel far, but they might soon. In the small manager’s office tucked under the stand at Ipurua the walls are lined with pennants handed over before games going back years. Many of them are from clubs you’ve probably never heard of: Sestao, Tudelano, Alfaro, Santutxo, Urduliz, Arenas de Armilla, clubs from Spain’s lower levels, mostly from Euskadi. Together, they mark Eibar’s journey and reveal something of their identity and achievement. Over the last three years, the collection has grown, bigger names, bigger clubs, all over Spain. Next year, maybe they can add some more from a little further afield.

Talking points (will come in another piece on Thursday)

Results: Real Sociedad 2–2 Eibar, Málaga 1–2 Betis, Valencia 1–0 Leganés. Wednesday: Osasuna-Villarreal, Barcelona-Sporting, Celta-Espanyol, Madrid-Las Palmas, Granada-Alavés. Thursday night: Deportivo-Atlético, Sevilla-Athletic.