Leganes very nearly pulled off a great escape, but were ultimately relegated on the final day as they drew with Real Madrid when they needed a win.
They were in such a difficult situation because of a terrible start to the season, a start so poor that coach Mauricio Pellegrini actually voluntarily resigned after nine matches. Javier Aguirre, a veteran coach with a lot of experience in Spanish football, was then brought in.
After a great December and January under Aguirre, Leganes suffered two huge blows in the transfer market. Sevilla triggered Youssef En-Nesyri’s release clause to take him away. Then, even after the winter window had closed, Barcelona were able to trigger Martin Braithwaite’s release clause to sign him as an emergency signing. This left Leganes without their two top scorers and unable to sign a replacement.
This was so clear over the final months. They just didn’t have someone capable of scoring goals. Attacking midfielder Oscar Rodriguez did his best, but he couldn’t do everything.
This saw Leganes’ survival hopes fade. Even though they had a late surge in the final weeks and had hope right up until the final seconds of the final day, the damage had been done long before and they went down.
Now, they need to do a lot of work. Aguirre has left, so they need a new coach. And many of the players will leave too, especially as they had so many on loan. It’s time for a new project, but they do at least have the En-Nesyri and Braithwaite money.
