Carlos Clerc actually played a huge part in his last LaLiga win.
Scampering to the byline, the fleet-footed full-back swung his neck to survey his options in the middle, before wrapping his left boot around the ball to produce a bobbling, cut-back cross for Jorge de Frutos, who blasted home the only goal of the game.
The match-winning assist at Ipurua, on 10th April, 2021.
Since then, Clerc has escaped relegation, been relegated, found a new club, and looks well on his way to being relegated again. Since that fateful victory at Eibar, he has played 2859 minutes of football, completed 1225 passes, committed 38 fouls, and won zero games.
The luckless left-back was involved in 23 of Levante’s record-breaking 28-game winless streak, before missing their long-awaited win 2-0 win over Mallorca. He then picked up an injury to rule him out of all seven games that Alessio Lisci’s side won until the end of the season, before sealing a summer move to Elche, who extended their streak of 14 games without a victory last night.
Los Franjiverdes were looking good after half an hour against Girona, as a raucous crowd inspired the beleaguered bottom side into an early lead, as Pol Lirola flung himself over the ball to steer a smart finish across Paulo Gazzaniga’s goal. Álex Collado also grazed the post with a low drive, before Pere Milla rattled the crossbar with a looping header, in a frantic thirty-minute spell that saw an energised Elche playing some of their best football in their hour of ultimate need.
The game, however, quickly became a contest of confidence that Clerc’s side were always going to lose. Up against slick opposition, buoyed by recent wins and draws with Athletic Club and Real Madrid, each Girona warning shot seemed to sap Elche energy as quickly as it scuppered self-belief.
As Aleix García hit the woodwork, and Oriol Romeu had a goal ruled out, pressure started to mount as conviction started to crumble, Girona believing they would eventually score, and Elche knowing they would eventually concede.
Ivan Martín was the man to deliver the blow, heading home his second goal in two LaLiga games to draw the Catalan side level, before, tellingly, the cursed Clerc miscued his clearance, to allow Arnau Martínez in behind to square for Valentín Castellanos.
2-1 the final score, to extend the personal winless run of Carlos Clerc to 35 LaLiga games, more than anyone in the history of the Spanish top flight.
With all records already broken, all that remains to find out is the end. Travelling to the Wanda Metropolitano on 31st December, the form book would suggest that the wait for a win could span into 2023, where Los Ilicitanos face Celta Vigo, Cádiz, Osasuna and Sevilla in the first month of the new year.
For Elche’s sake, and for the sanity of poor Carlos Clerc, here’s hoping for a momentous victory in the not too distant future.