The La Liga innovator out to prove his old club wrong

After two years outside Spain's top flight, Elche sealed their automatic return to La Liga with a thumping 4-0 win at Deportivo in June.

As the third largest city in the Comunidad Valenciana and the 20th largest in the whole of Spain, Elche could hardly be classified as one of those clubs pundits like to describe as "punching above their weight".

That did not stop most pundits from granting them the dubious distinction of being - along with Real Oviedo - favourites to drop straight back into the second tier.

So far - so wrong. With more than a quarter of the season played, Eder Sarabia's side go into Sunday's game at Barcelona eighth in La Liga after 10 games - with three wins, five draws and just two defeats.

It will be a poignant occasion for the Bilbao-born coach, who returns to the Catalan club for the first time since an eventful seven-and-a-half month stint as assistant to Quique Setien in 2020.

I met with Sarabia to talk about his indifferent playing career, his famous father and his return to La Liga.