Real Madrid, Barcelona and how the other 99% in Spanish football live

While the Clasico has a claimed TV audience of 500 million, there were just over 10,000 at Leganes for Saturday’s game against Mallorca but the game meant just or much, or maybe even more, to those involved

Leganes secured what could prove to be an important three points (EPA)

The rescheduling of Saturday’s La Liga Clasico at the Camp Nou left a gap in the weekend’s schedule - and also an opportunity to see how the other half [or maybe other 99%] live within Spanish football.

While the Clasico has a claimed TV audience of 500 million, there were just over 10,000 at Leganes' tidy Butarque stadium for Saturday’s game against Mallorca, and nobody watching in the UK due to its 3pm​ kick-off. But the game meant just or much, or maybe more, to those involved.

Ahead of their first ever Primera Division meeting, the two teams had very contrasting weeks. One enjoying the high of beating Real Madrid just 18 months after emerging from Spain’s semi-professional third tier, the other dealing with a 0-2 local derby defeat at Getafe which left them on just two points from their first nine Primera Division games.

No team has survived such a start during the three points for a win era, and Leganes coach Mauricio Pellegrino felt he had no option but to resign. But then neither ex-Barca defender and Alaves coach Abelardo Fernandez nor former Almeria and Huesca boss Francisco Rodriguez were interested in taking on the challenge. And talks with ex-Sunderland, Real Betis and Bordeaux manager Gus Poyet broke off inconclusively on Friday.

So youth team coach Luis Cembranos stepped up to pick his first ever La Liga XI on Saturday. Ex-Rayo Vallecano and Espanyol midfielder Cembranos, 47, made three changes in personnel and also changed shape from 3-5-2 to a 4-3-3. But the main hope was for a change in fortune for a team who had not been playing as badly as their results suggested.

The opening stages were predictably cagey, with Leganes sharper into tackles but Mallorca showing greater composure and confidence on the ball. The opening goal came from one of the home side's first passages of joined up football, with Oscar Rodriguez and Ricardo Rosales swapping passes down the right. The latter’s cross evaded Guido Carrillo at the near post, but not the fast arriving Martin Braithwaite at the back stick. It was just Leganes’ fifth goal of 2019/20, and Butarque buzzed with their team in front at home for the first time all season.

The shape of the game did not change that much into the second half.

As the minutes passed and the tension level upped, the Leganes defence began to drop deeper and deeper. There were cheers as Greek centre-half Dmitri Siovas refused to be stretchered off despite a painful rib injury, at least until he could get revenge on the similarly physical Croatian centre-forward Ante Budimir.

Mallorca sent on Japanese starlet Take Kubo to try and open up the increasingly shaky home defence, and started to throw more players forward. That meant chances for Leganes to break. Braithwaite hit the crossbar from 10 yards when a free kick was deflected invitingly into his path. The Denmark international then howled in frustration when teammate Jose Arnaiz opted to go himself rather than pass in a two on one with Mallorca keeper Miguel Reina.

It was still 1-0 as the board went up for seven minutes of added time, which drew anger from nervous home fans, but hopeful cheers from the 200 visiting supporters. An equaliser seemed inevitable as Mallorca​ kept pressing - Antonio Raillo headed a corner just over, substitute Aleksandar Trajkovski shot inches wide.

The final whistle brought a huge roar of relief at Leganes’ first La Liga victory since April 4, then chants of “Si se puede [Yes we can]” from the home fans. “An unforgettable experience,” an emotional Cembranos told his post-match news conference. “I’m so thankful for the effort of the team on such a difficult day, when our heads and our limbs were weighed down. We knew how to suffer, to be together more than ever. Now the fans can see that it is possible. We have to believe in what we can do, this should be a turning point for the team.”

Mallorca coach Vicente Moreno was less excited, although he did accept congratulations on his 45th birthday. Last weekend’s win over a heavily rotated Madrid side brought great celebrations on the island, and it was always going to be tough for his players to lift themselves again.

“It would have been the same to lose the other day and to win today,” Moreno said realistically. “Anybody who thought two successive wins in Primera was going to be easy… It is difficult here, Leganes are a good team with very good players. We must keep insisting. We know we can get points in any game.”

Mallorca are historically a much bigger club than Leganes, but even with millionaire American owners they remain burdened by debts from a previous regime. Their salary cap of €29million is by the lowest in La Liga, and they spent just €7 million in total on new players last summer.

Mallorca's players applaud their fans after the game (EPA)

Six of the XI which beat Madrid last weekend - including goalscorer Lago Junior - had been with the club all the way through their rise from the third tier to top flight, as has coach Moreno. Such togetherness has brought 10 points so far at their Estadi de Son Moix, but they are the only La Liga team not to pick up at least one point on road so far.

“We're in Primera now, and everything is faster, higher quality,” Moreno said on Saturday. “It's all more difficult. We started well today. Away from home we have played some nice football, but that is not much good to us. Inside the two areas opponents are better than us, and Leganes were today. We take risks with our passing, which means we can make mistakes. But I want us to be brave on the ball. We need to keep improving.”

Moreno’s journey with Mallorca and the win over Madrid means his job is safe, but Leganes president Victoria Pavon and her directors now have a decision to make. The family-run club’s progress through recent years has been built on solidity and efficiency both on and off the pitch. Previous coaches Asier Garitano and Pellegrino were both low key figures who built an important team spirit.

But the team are still bottom, five points from safety and something different might be needed. Poyet is a more brash character who may prove a charismatic leader able to pull off an unlikely escape.

Although he also has a tendency to fall out with those around him and a previous spell in La Liga brought just three wins in 11 games at Real Betis.

On Saturday, Cembranos suggested he would quite like to stay as caretaker at least as long as Wednesday’s short trip to Real Madrid’s Estadio Santiago Bernabeu.

“I’m an employee of the club, that depends on the decisions of other people,” said Cembranos. “I’m delighted to be here, this is an opportunity. Great if I’m on the bench on Wednesday, but most important is for the players to keep on this path. There is a long way to go to turn this around, but the squad has shown it can do important things.”

The postponed Clasico means Madrid will be well rested for Wednesday's game, so if Cembranos makes it two wins from two he should really get the job full time. Regardless, both Levante and Mallorca will be back to battling away from the spotlight for the rest of the season.