On Saturday, in the heat of battle, LaLiga's second-youngest manager -- who played no professional football and has no trophies to his name -- yelled at Atlético Madrid coach Diego Simeone, who has made 1,500 professional appearances as a player and coach, won 21 trophies, and is a four-time LaLiga manager of the year. The younger coach made "crybaby" gestures and insulted the feisty Argentine about his "whining" to referees.
Mere moments later, Antoine Griezmann screwed a 90th-minute penalty wide of Marko Dmitrovic's left-hand post to practically ensure that Atléti's record-breaking 15-match winning streak would end, and that Leganés would become the only team in the division to twice beat Spain's league leaders this season.
Post-match, that same 39-year-old whippersnapper coach, Borja Jiménez, preceded his victory analysis by apologising for insulting Simeone with "words which don't represent me." He did so without being able to wipe a huge, smug grin off his face while pretending to repent.
That Griezmann couldn't tuck the ball past Dimitrovic from 12 yards was pretty shocking, but nowhere near as shocking as the events of Leganés' past five weeks.
It began in mid-December when this tiny, south-Madrid club -- now owned by Blue Crow Sports Group, overseen by former St. Louis Cardinals VP of scouting and player development and Houston Astros president and GM Jeff Luhnow -- won 1-0 away to Liga-leading Barcelona. It was the first time this cucumber-loving outfit have ever achieved that. Admittedly, that's partly because Los Pepineros (The Cucumbers) have only spent four previous seasons in Spain's elite division.
Make no mistake: this is an upstart club we are talking about.
Lega then qualified for the Copa del Rey quarterfinals, for only the second time in their history, via an absolutely thrilling 3-2 away win against Almería, the second-division side who'd made it that far by thrashing Sevilla 4-1.
Before their match at the Butarque, Atléti were top of the table and could have guaranteed staying there with a win over humble neighbours Leganés from the agricultural, unfashionable cucumber-farming southern suburbs. But a header of the same quality that had defeated Barcelona (the first coming from captain Sergio González, this most recent one from Matija Nastasic) brought more history: Lega's first LaLiga win over mighty Atléti.
Finally came the cherry on the icing.
Monday's quarterfinal draw not only paired Luhnow's club with the biggest name in world football, Real Madrid. Lady Luck (who's been making eyes at Leganés for some months now) ensured that this one-off knockout match won't be at Los Blancos' 81,000-capacity, roof-enclosed, intimidating, historic Santiago Bernabéu but, instead, 13 miles south at Lega's largely uncovered, 13,000-capacity, local council-owned Butarque.
Two interesting details about that tie, to be played in a fortnight, are that the Butarque was actually built by Real Madrid president Florentino Pérez's behemoth ACS Group construction company in 1997-98, and that the last time Pérez took his mighty team there in La Copa, six years ago, they were beaten 1-0. The previous time this Madrid-based David vs. Goliath was drawn together in Spain's knockout competition, a year earlier in 2018, it was Leganés who went through, on aggregate, having lost at home but then winning 2-1 at the Bernabéu.
It was a result that was sufficiently historic and impactful in the moment, but still more so when, at the end of that season, Madrid having imperiously lifted the Champions League yet again, manager Zinedine Zidane savoured the victory over Liverpool in Kyiv for a couple of days before dramatically resigning. Among the reasons he gave for walking away from the club he most loves was the way in which his players infuriated him by surrendering to Leganés in that cup tie.
Given that the resources are so vastly different between the two clubs, and the fact that Spain's reigning league champions are on the rise, Madrid could start this tie, even though it's away from home, as favourites. Having said that, current Blancos boss Carlo Ancelotti has suffered such a bumpy season that it's not too cheeky to suggest that if his team were eliminated by lowly Lega, it might become the second time that their neighbours have a hand in one of Madrid's best and most-storied coaches leaving his position.
We are, after all, talking about a club which only came up from the second division last season. If you haven't watched their pugnacious, well-organised, high-intensity defensive performances this season, and you only judged by what you can read on the internet, then you'd be entitled to be extremely shocked by this recent run of superlative results.
For example, one extremely thorough, reliable and professional football website summed up Jiménez's team thusly: "Weaknesses -- avoiding offside, keeping possession of the ball, aerial duels, defending set pieces, avoiding fouling in dangerous areas, defending attacks down the wings, defending against skillful players, protecting a lead, avoiding individual errors." That's a pretty damning report, you'd agree, to say nothing of their insistence that Leganés have "no significant strengths."
Looking back at Luhnow's philosophy in baseball, regardless of his controversial departure, it shouldn't be a big surprise that he's committed to opting for extreme use of data or that he's opted for youthful precocity in his coach.
Jiménez might have been out of order for his aggressive poking at Simeone on Saturday, given their relative histories and achievements, but he is patently a young man of energy, talent and determination.
"[Luhnow] told me that this was a humble club and one which was going to have to reduce its financial outgoings when I was offered the job, but he made it clear that he was looking for somebody with ambition ... which I have," Jiménez has explained.
He's won promotions with Cartagena, Mirandés and Leganés, while only missing out on doing the same with Deportivo La Coruña because of defeat in the playoffs. Almost everywhere he's gone, his team posts miserly goals-against numbers. Now Jiménez has the glimpse of an opportunity to knock out Real Madrid and reach Leganés' first ever cup semifinal.
Jiménez looks about 25 but actually turns 40 this week -- Tuesday, to be precise. Absolutely no chance of a midlife crisis for this fella -- maybe a cucumber sandwich, perhaps even a small beer.
But keep your eye on him. He seems talented, likely to keep on achieving, and showed against Simeone that he's no respecter of reputations.
An interesting character at an equally interesting club.