Amid another strong USL Championship season, Louisville City FC steps away from competitive play to welcome CD Leganés for a July 12 international friendly — its first-ever meeting with Spanish opposition.
Leganés’ visit to Lynn Family Stadium — tickets available at LouCity.com/leganes — marks the opener of Louisville’s Global Games Series this summer. Germany’s Eintracht Frankfurt returns to face LouCity on July 29, which will follow a highly anticipated preseason matchup with Aston Villa of the Premier League set for July 26.
A member of the Spanish second division, LaLiga 2, Leganés also goes by Los Pepineros — or the Cucumber Growers — in recognition of the city’s most popular crop.
Ahead of Louisville’s very first Spanish test, here are the key things you need to know about this weekend’s visitors.
Leganés played five seasons in Spain’s top tier — LaLiga
Despite now competing in the second level of Spanish football, Leganés has a history of battling at the top among the giants. Since a historic first promotion to LaLiga in June 2016, the outfit from central Spain has spent five seasons at the top of Spain’s football pyramid. That includes its most recent campaign (2024-25) when Leganés were relegated from La Liga on the final day of the season after finishing in 18th place. An impressive run of three wins from its final four games nearly saw it avoid relegation.
The club played four consecutive campaigns in LaLiga from 2016 to 2020, achieving its best finish of 13th place in 2018-19, just in front of 2020-21 Europa League winners Villarreal CF. The potent Moroccan forward Youssef En-Nesyri keyed that historic run with nine goals in 22 starts.
In its second campaign in LaLiga (2017-18), Leganés made it all the way to the Copa del Rey semifinals — the furthest it has ever been in the domestic knockout competition. The cup journey saw it best Spanish powerhouse Real Madrid in the quarterfinals by way of a road comeback, before ultimately falling to Sevilla.
Leganés beat three of Spain’s “Big Six” clubs last season, including FC Barcelona
The side from the Community of Madrid picked up some extraordinary results this past season in spite of dropping back down to LaLiga 2. Out of Leganés’ nine victories, three were 1-0 results against the country’s widely recognized “Big Six” clubs, including wins over Sevilla, Atlético Madrid and eventual champion FC Barcelona within a three-month span.
Its mid-December result over Barcelona was arguably the biggest upset in LaLiga last season. Not only did Leganés beat Barca, it downed the Catalonian-based team on the road — one of just two instances in the league that a team left the Barcelona Olympic Stadium victorious in 2024-25. The club’s now-former captain, Sergio González, netted the winner inside five minutes.
The triumph over Atlético was historic in its own right. Leganes had never beaten the Madrid giants in nine previous attempts dating back to 2016. That all changed in January when Los Pepineros edged Diego Simeone’s crew at the 10th time of asking.
Leganés’ roster features players from seven different countries
Spearheaded by new manager Paco López, who was appointed at the end of this past LaLiga season, Leganés has a roster that combines experienced players with young talent from around the globe. Players from seven countries comprise the Leganés squad traveling to Louisville, including Zambia, Bolivia and Guinea, among others.
The frontline is highlighted by the likes of Spaniard Juan Cruz, the club’s second-leading scorer last season, Cape Verde international Duk and Miguel de la Fuente, who was Leganés’ top goal threat during its promotion from the second division in 2024. Young 18-year-old Yan Diomande from the Ivory Coast is a player to watch in the midfield. Diomande officially joined Leganes in January after shining at the DME Academy in Florida. He contributed to three goals in just 10 games played in the top flight last season.
A former Europa League winner with Villarreal, Rubén Peña, and Guinean international Seydouba Cissé are also two important assets within the Leganes midfield. Peña made his return to the club just last month after nine years away. The 33-year-old recorded experience in the UEFA Champions League, in addition to helping Osasuna to a Copa Del Rey final in 2023 prior to moving back to Leganes.
The defense features newly signed Ignasi Miquel — who played for three English clubs including Arsenal — and Real Madrid product Javi Hernández. Hernández, a left back for the most part last season with Los Pepineros, has amassed over 100 appearances for the club across three seasons in the highest two levels of Spanish soccer.
Leganés captured the 2023-24 La Liga 2 title
The club made history in Butarque at the conclusion of the 2023-24 season. Leganés, under the leadership of Borja Jimenez, secured the LaLiga 2 (Segunda Division) title with 74 points and a +29 goal differential — the second highest of any league team in the last four seasons. The outfit from central Spain had finished second and third in 2016 and 2021, respectively, before finally winning the league for the first time in June 2024.
Miguel and Cruz netted the crucial goals on the final day of the campaign to clinch the league with a 2-0 win over Elche. The team lost just one of its final 13 games from March 11 to June 2 to seal its place in La Liga as the second division winners. Defensive captain Sergio Gonzalez was a vital figure that season, playing a team leading 3,695 league minutes while also scoring six goals. Gonzalez parted ways with the club in May, ending his five year tenure as a Pepinero.
The club is owned by Jeff Luhnow, who also owns Cancun FC, one of LouCity’s past friendly opponents
LouCity’s first summer international friendly opponent shares a similarity with one of last season’s friendly foes — Cancún FC. The Mexican outfit, which fell to Louisville by a 4-2 score in September 2024, is owned by former Major League Baseball executive Jeff Luhnow, who also owns Leganés.
As the Chief Executive Officer of an investment group called Blue Crow Sports Group, Luhnow led the purchase processes of Cancún and Leganés within months of each other in 2022. In addition, Luhnow’s group acquired two more clubs — MFK Vyškov of the Czech Republic’s second division and Dubai-based Elite Falcons Football Club.
Luhnow is originally from the soccer-obsessed country of Mexico, having been raised in the nation’s capital of Mexico City. Before his endeavors into soccer, he spent extensive time in the baseball front offices of the St. Louis Cardinals and Houston Astros.
