(CNN) -- They do things differently at Sociedad Deportiva Eibar, up in the mist-cloaked valleys of the Basque country. And it is working. The smallest club ever to compete in Spanish soccer's top flight is debt free, self-sustaining, and steadfast in its determination not to overextend itself. That is a novelty in La Liga, whose two leading lights -- Real Madrid and Barcelona -- are in the red to an estimated combined tune of over $1 billion. Eibar's town has a population of just 27,000 and its football club a miniscule budget to help sustain a charge for safety in its first ever season in the top division.
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Tiny Eibar is punching above its weight during its first ever season in Spain's La Liga
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The club are the smallest to have played in the top league but sit ninth in the table
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The Basque club is debt free and self-sustaining unlike a lot of other clubs
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President Alez Aranzabal: "The relationship between the town and the team is unique."
Though Aranzabal has gone full-time and 13 people have been recruited to cope with the demands of @placeholder, it will revert to a skeleton staff should the club be relegated.