After two years out of Spain’s top flight, Elche returned to La Liga in emphatic style with a 4-0 win over Deportivo in June. Under coach Eder Sarabia, the club have defied expectations and currently sit eighth in the table after 10 games — a far cry from pre-season predictions of relegation struggles.
The Making of Eder Sarabia
The Bilbao-born coach never matched the footballing success of his father, Athletic Club legend Manu Sarabia. Eder’s own playing career ended early, and he turned to coaching after short stints in Spain’s lower leagues. His mother convinced him to study engineering — a decision he says grounded him in discipline and hard work. Before coaching, he even worked in a supermarket, experiences he now credits for shaping his values and humility.
Learning from Setien and Barcelona
Sarabia’s coaching journey took off when he met Quique Setien, becoming his assistant at Las Palmas, Real Betis, and eventually Barcelona in 2020. His stint at Barca was turbulent — he was often portrayed as the source of tension between players and staff — but he views it as a valuable learning curve. “Leo isn’t just the best of all time,” he says of Messi. “He understood football better than anyone.”
Building a Legacy at Elche
Now at Elche, Sarabia has guided the side back to La Liga with an innovative, attack-minded approach. Rather than playing cautiously to survive, his team prefers to take risks and entertain. “We never play the same way,” he says. “Football is for clever people, not for cheats.”
He hopes to leave more than results behind. “If I stay six months or three years, I want to leave a legacy — a club that continues to grow and improve.”
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