The miracle of Mirandés: one of the poorest teams in Second dreams of representing Miranda de Ebro in Arabia

The Mirandés returns to be in the pages of the Spanish sports newspapers. The club of Miranda de Ebro, after eliminating Celta de Vigo and Seville, did the same with Villarreal to sneak into the semifinals of Copa del Rey and dream of the Spanish Super Cup matching their unforgettable performance of the 11/12 tournament , in which, with the added difficulty of doing it twice, he became among the four best teams. The victorious passage of Andoni Iraola's boys through the tournament of the K.O., despite having repeated several times in the last decade, is still a true feat if the resources he has are taken into account.

Newly promoted after a season in Second B and settled in the second smallest city of Second (Almendralejo alone has less than 34,000 inhabitants), Mirandés is one of the most modest in the category. It has the third lowest salary limit and one of the two worst budgets (next to Fuenlabrada), with 7.7 million euros for the 19/20 academic year.

With only 4.2 million euros to pay salaries to its staff, it has the seventh least valuable team in the competition (11.9 million, according to the specialized website Transfermarkt), but with nuances: six of its seven most valuable players are assigned and do not belong to the entity. A work of trenches of the sports direction that had a perfect image in the duel against Villarreal, in which three of the four goals were of players on loan: Martín Merquelanz (Real Sociedad), Antonio Sánchez (Mallorca) and Matheus Aias ( Watford)

With the creation of a strong block by Andoni Iraola, the Mirandés has been overcoming several barriers that the economic factor had built at the beginning of the season. With half League to be played, it is three points from the 'playoff' zone of promotion to Primera and with very realistic prospects of salvation after two years in the 'hell' of Second B, but the Copa del Rey, another once, it has been the terrain in which the reddish ones have moved better.

In the first single-game edition, the Mirandés was dodging inferior rivals in the first rounds of the tournament. Paradoxically, he has suffered much more with them. He won in the extension to Coruxo and UCAM Murcia, and then crossed the path of Celta. The Celtic group, with a budget of 87 million, eleven times higher, also fell in the complementary time.

Already in the round of 16, Sevilla appeared by Anduva, one of the giants of Spanish football. It did not matter: Miranda took the Nervión team ahead (which has a budget 28 times higher, with 215 'kilos'), by a blunt 3-1. This Wednesday, Villarreal was notified, but the result was the same: Iraola's squad won a fast track to a team of 134 million euros in budget (17 times more) by a large 4-2.

The rojillo team won the heart of the fans with its great 11/12 Cup, in which it reached the semifinals, the highest milestone that has now matched the Miranda club

The passage to the semifinals is the second of an entity that has won a place in the hearts of Spanish fans. The love relationship with Mirandés began in the 11/12 edition of the Cup, in which led by a bank employee (Pablo Infante) the team eliminated 'first' as Villarreal, Racing and Espanyol and was slowed down by the Athletic before the grand finale.

Years later, and with the memory of the deeds in Anduva, the Mirandés had another moment of glory in the Cup. It was in the 15/16 course, in which he reached the quarter-finals after knocking out two teams from Primera, Málaga and Deportivo de la Coruña. Sevilla was his executioner, a group that has avenged himself in this edition. With the real possibility of facing Real Madrid or Barcelona (if they meet the forecasts against Real Sociedad and Athletic), Mirandés wants to take another step in its history.

If they qualify for the final, they will not only qualify for the title, but they will be in the next Spanish Super Cup. It is the next objective of a team that dreams of representing Miranda de Ebro in Saudi Arabia and with the eyes of the world on it. Regardless of the resources.

LaLiga announces the salary limits of all First and Second clubs for the 19/20 season