BarcelonaIn July 2020, Barça took the final stab at Espanyol, who confirmed at the Camp Nou a relegation that they had assumed for months. Thirteen years earlier, on the same stage, a double by Raúl Tamudo, in a night that is remembered as the Tamudazo, he deprived Barça of a League that was already caressing. In this Sunday’s derby, at the RCDE Stadium (9 p.m., M. LaLiga), there will again be much more than three points at stake: it will be a final for both teams, although a stalemate would be much more traumatic for in Spanish Barça, who have been smelling the title for weeks now, want to proclaim themselves League champions at the hands of their eternal rival.
The possibility of celebrating the title against the neighboring citizen is one of the many enticements that a Barça has that wants to properly dismiss its captain, a Sergio Busquets whom the squad honored this week at a farewell dinner after announcing who leaves at the end of this season. In the preview, Xavi himself defined him as “the best midfielder I have ever seen”. It is a matter of hours, if not days, for the Barcelona club to officially add what would be League number 27 to their record. It would be the first with Xavi Hernández on the bench, and also the first of the second stage with Joan Laporta as president. But it would also be the first after the pandemic and without a Messi with whom Barça lifted 10 of the 26 that it keeps in the showcases of its museum. “We have to control our nerves; it will be a hot match: they play a lot”, explained Xavi in the preview of the derby.
The regularity shown in this championship, in which Barça have only suffered four draws and three defeats in 33 games thanks to their defensive reliability – only 11 goals conceded – is undoubtedly the best news for the club in a turbulent season : from the economic levers that made it possible to sign and register players like Lewandowski, Kounde and Raphinha, to the painful elimination of the Champions League and the Europa League, through the Negreira case, still unresolved, or the unexpected and hasty farewell announcement of a Mateu Alemany still on the payroll. This League will be a balmy title for a Barça that accumulates all kinds of losses, from sporting to economic, including institutional ones. The Blaugrana club depends on himself to certify the League this weekend. But after a substitute-laden Real Madrid 1-0 win over Getafe yesterday thanks to a goal from Marco Asensio, they must win today to secure the title with four games to go.
While the Blaugrana club prepares the celebratory parade through the streets of Barcelona, the Spanish club exhausts its options to avoid its sixth relegation to Segona. A defeat in the derby could move the white-and-blues six points away from salvation – as long as all their direct rivals score on this day. There would still be 12 points up for grabs, six of which against two teams that are still fighting to secure the promotion such as Valencia and Almeria, but a defeat in the derby could turn Espanyol into a virtually relegated team. “I don’t care if I go overboard, I want people to go out and die. No one can have more motivation than us”, said the Espanyol captain, Sergi Darder, on Friday. Luis Garcia has asked his players to be brave, and has said that “it is a day to feel even more proud of being from Espanyol. We have a great incentive, we are playing hard, and we will be ready” .
In the Spanish dressing room, the players are aware that they have no more margin for error, since a new setback could leave them with a foot and a half in Second. “I am confident that we will win the derby and face what remains with more hope”, explained Aleix Vidal this week in an interview with ARA. The winger from Puigpelat, who is living his last days as an Espanyol player, knows what it is to win a League, as he achieved it twice with Barça, in 2016 and 2018. A year later, the season 2018-19, Vidal returned to Sevilla and the Blaugrana team won what is so far their twenty-sixth and last Liga.
The Espanyol player, moreover, is one of the few footballers who have experienced something that has not yet happened in the League: the only white-and-blue victory at the RCDE Stadium against Barça was with a solitary goal by Melendo in the 88th minute, which caused the Spanish fans to explode with euphoria in a match in which Diego López managed to save a Messi penalty. In that match, the other end of Barça was Denis Suárez, another player who has switched from wearing the colors of Blaugrana to the white-and-blues. To find the last home victory in the Primera de l’Espanyol in a derby you have to go back to 2007. At that time the parrot club played in Montjuïc, the stadium that will host Barça next season, and Luis García and Xavi Hernández, current coaches of Espanyol and Barça, they were two of the engines of their teams on the pitch. The Asturian, in fact, opened the can and provided the assist for Espanyol’s third goal of the night (3-1). Cornellà-El Prat, which has been hanging the poster for days sold out, hopes to break his curse against Barça, who have scored in all the visits they have made in the League: six wins and a draw. Who said derbies were decaffeinated matches?
2023-05-14 06:00:46
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