Espanyol is playing for its life this Saturday (4:15 PM) at the Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán. With a three-point cushion over the relegation zone and after 17 consecutive games without a win, a record for the start of a year in La Liga, they visit Sevilla's ground in a dramatic relegation battle. The Andalusians, also in a very delicate moment, are two points behind the 'periquitos' and, in case of victory, could seriously complicate the 'blanquiazules'' survival. It would be the third relegation in six years for the Catalan club.

Neither playing well nor playing badly. Espanyol no longer knows what to do to end the curse that has been pursuing them since the end of last year. Against a Real Madrid at half-speed, they lost again (0-2), preventing Barça from being crowned League champions last night and prolonging their agony, which could end in Sunday's Clásico. Two great goals from Vinícius were to blame. 17 winless games and six points out of 51 condemn them to fight until the end for a survival that seemed secured four months ago. Espanyol is running out of steam, and could end the matchday three points from the relegation zone. Next Saturday, they visit Sevilla in a duel that could sink them definitively.

“We are Real's farm team, they’ve told us our whole lives. That rumor still circulates today”, says Joan Collet, former president of Espanyol and a purebred Periquito. “It’s a false myth, a self-serving narrative that comes from the Sarrià era”, comments historian Oriol Pagès. It originated in the Espanyol-Madrid matches of the 70s. “Due to migratory waves, there were many Real Madrid fans in Barcelona at the time. And the only opportunity they had to see their team was when they played at Espanyol's stadium, which was very large and usually wasn't full. Many came”, contextualizes Pagès, who still remembers the appearance of the Sarrià stands.

Espanyol had luck on their side, from Marko Dmitrovic, against Levante, the second to last in the standings. Towards the end, the Serbian made three miraculous saves to salvage a point in a match that ended with a shot against the crossbar by the Granotas. Just after, the white-and-blue fans had had enough and for the first time this season booed and jeered their players, who have gone from dreaming of Europe to fighting against relegation. It would be the third in six years for the parakeets.

As is customary every April 23rd, Espanyol gave blue roses to all female members who visited their stand on Rambla Catalunya. Also in Madrid, to the 'periquito' fans who traveled to Vallecas, where the Catalan team played with the senyera and a rose on their chest.senyera and a rose on their chest. What they didn't get was a victory, essential to ward off the specter of relegation after, as of now, fifteen consecutive games without a win.

Four months ago, the parakeet fans were very happy. It should be remembered that last season the 'periquitos' did not secure their permanence until the last half hour of the league

“It’s a crazy league. I’ve been coaching for over 25 years and have never experienced anything like it”, assures Toni Carrillo, manager of Martinenc. His team is the leader of the Lliga Elit, the main competition in Catalan football and the most evenly matched. With five matchdays left until the end, the gap between Manlleu, the first team that would be relegated to Primera Catalana, and Sabadell B, in the promotion playoff zone for Tercera RFEF, is only three points. With the last-placed team, Santfeliuenc, it is six.

“I remember very well the day he arrived. We were in pre-season in Marbella and he got on the bus. We didn't know him yet. We all looked at each other and said: «Who is this big, serious guy?» Then they told us he was the new goalkeeper and that he was coming from the English Charlton”, explains Máyor, then a forward for Alcorcón, in the Second Division. It was the first adventure in Spanish football for Marko Dmitrovic (Subotica, Serbia, 1992).

For Christians, Holy Saturday is a day of silence and anticipation, prior to the commemoration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, after his passion and death. For the parakeets, devout and suffering as few are, yesterday was more or less the same. They trusted that after 12 matchdays without knowing victory, they would find triumph again in Seville, where these holy days are lived intensely. They didn't, but at least they earned a point against a Betis fighting for the Champions League (0-0). Furthermore, without conceding; they hadn't achieved that since mid-December. That said, the records are daunting: this year the white-and-blues have not yet won and have accumulated five points out of 39 in 2026. And next Saturday they visit the Camp Nou.Reinforced by the club during the international break, Manolo González gave Roberto Fernández the starting position instead of the veteran Kike García. Pol Lozano also broke into the eleven, accompanied in midfield by Urko González and Edu Expósito, with the aim of containing a Betis that, as expected, took complete control of the ball from the outset. For almost half an hour of play, the Andalusians' possession - exceeding 70% - was sterile; they moved it from one side to the other, without speed or depth... until they found a gap in the white-and-blue defense and Ruibal made Dmitrovic shine.

At 17 years old, Jaume Sabaté (Badalona, 1947) was forced to abandon his electronic engineering studies because of football. His family had a lampshade business, but as he played defense for Badalona in the Second Division and was tired of traveling back and forth, he didn't have time for books. It was the 1960s.

Popular football is booming in Barcelona. For some time now, young people in the capital have been flocking to their neighborhood clubs, which have become part of their social fabric on a daily basis. This is evident in Vila de Gràcia (Europa), Sant Andreu de Palomar (UE Sant Andreu), or la Verneda i la Pau (Júpiter). In Sants, where another historic team like Unió Esportiva Sants plays, this phenomenon is not reproduced. In fact, the club is becoming increasingly distant emotionally and geographically from the neighborhood and its fans, and this is explained by the fact that it has not had a home for decades, a stadium it can call its own. “We are a neighborhood club that doesn't play in its neighborhood. The team was born and grew around the historic core of Sants, but we have been competing far from there for many years,” says Artur Balaux, a lifelong Sants fan and curator of the club's historical memory. Currently, the first team plays its home games at Camp de la Bàscula, and the youth teams are spread across this same ground, l’Energia, and l’Ibèria. All of them are located in the Marina de Port neighborhood, next to the Zona Franca.“Many times people ask me: ‘Why doesn’t Sants play in Sants?’ And I answer: ‘Because we don’t have a field.’ We are exiled from our home and increasingly uprooted from the neighborhood,” comments Joan Forcadell, the club’s president. “The chain of transmission from parents to children and from grandparents to grandchildren has been broken, and of course, we have lost a lot of fans,” confirms Balaux, who is member number 18. The social decline has been accompanied by high rental costs – the lease of the three fields accounts for about 25% of the club’s annual budget – and this has been reflected on the pitch: the first team went from Tercera RFEF to Primera Catalana, two categories below, in two years, and currently occupies a relegation spot to Segunda Catalana. In 2023, Sants was a rival of Europa and Sant Andreu; as things stand, everything suggests that next season it will be five divisions lower.”

There's no way Espanyol will win in 2026. When it's not an individual error, it's a refereeing mistake; today it was a bit of everything. After a good first half, with two goals disallowed for offside and a VAR review for a possible penalty, the Blanquiazules went into halftime trailing 0-2 against Getafe, the worst possible opponent in a setting like this.

Espanyol hasn't won in almost three months. Their last victory dates back to December 22, 2025. Athletic Club's groundIn the last match of last year, they only managed four draws; that is, 4 points out of a possible 33. A calamitous run, the worst start to the year in the history of Espanyol, which in theory does not threaten the team's survival – they have an 11-point cushion above the relegation zone with ten matches remaining – but which Manolo González's team wants to break this Saturday at home against Getafe (16th, before the calendar turns up).

Even Dmitrovic, who delivered one of his best performances in a Espanyol shirt, couldn't secure their first win of the year. Although they've deserved it for weeks, the Pericos haven't won in 83 days, eleven matchdays. Today they lost again (2-1), largely because they were reduced to ten men at the start of the second half when Pickel, who scored the opening goal, was sent off for a very harsh and unnecessary tackle in midfield. And because referee De Burgos Bengoetxea allowed a clearly illegal goal by Pablo Torre, preceded by a foul on Urko González. Samu Costa completed the comeback late in the game. It's the second consecutive year of controversial refereeing decisions at Son Moix for the Pericos, who have had everything go against them since the start of the year.

"It's a bit unnerving to go out in public wearing Espanyol colors. You might get inappropriate looks or hear some off-color comments; I think most Espanyol fans have thought about it at some point. There are even some who, on match days, don't put on their scarf or shirt until they get to Cornellà, when they feel they're in a safe environment," said the Espanyol supporter. Barcelona Half Marathon"I wondered whether to do it; I didn't want to feel uncomfortable. But quite the opposite, it was an amazing experience. People were calling out to me, 'Come on, Perico!' or 'Long live Espanyol!' It was very moving to hear strangers cheering me on because they shared my love for the club," he adds with a smile.

The last time Oviedo visited Cornellà-El Prat was on the day of the San Juan festival of 2024The shortest night of the year. More than one Espanyol fan returned home as the sun rose after celebrating Espanyol's promotion to La Liga, sealed with two goals from Javi Puado, who was absent yesterday due to a long-term injury. Manolo González was there, though, and he has an unforgettable memory of that festive Sunday. Since then, things have changed a lot for the Pericos, who have established themselves in the First Division and are coming off a historic end to 2025. But this year they haven't seen the light at the end of the tunnel. Even at home against the bottom-placed team, an Oviedo side practically relegated, Manolo González's men couldn't achieve their first victory of 2026. Kike García's goal only served to draw (1-1); that's 4 points out of 30 for an Espanyol side in crisis, for whom the league season is going to be very long if they don't win soon.

Emilio Montiagut still remembers the sweltering heat of the spring of 2010 in Ouagadougou. At the time, he was a scout for Espanyol, and the club sent him to Burkina Faso to look for young talent in "a kind of footballing talent show" with players from different parts of the African continent. "There were more than a hundred, and every day I watched six or seven matches," says the Espanyol scout, who noted down the name of Eric Bertrand Bailly from Ivory Coast: "He played full-back, defensive midfielder, and center-back; he was a physical marvel, a spectacular footballer." He was fifteen years old and was represented by a regional branch of Promoesport, the agency that organized those days in the heart of West Africa. Upon his return, Montiagut recommended the boy to the club, and Antonio Morales, advisor and head of the youth football clubThey acquired 50% of the player's rights at no cost – Espanyol could have bought an additional 30% for €200,000. In return, Eric, who was still a child, moved to Barcelona to live and train at the Catalan club's youth academy. For a long time, he couldn't compete due to problems with his paperwork. "He arrived with nothing. I remember giving him clothes; he didn't know the language, and we enrolled him in a vocational training program. He was humble and polite, and always smiling. He was very clear that he wanted to be a professional footballer to help his family," explains Ramon Guerrero, director of the residence.

There's no way around it. Whether they play well or badly, Espanyol can't find a way to win again, something that hasn't happened since the end of last year. And it's already started in March. Against Elche, the second-worst team of 2026 after Espanyol themselves, they couldn't manage it either, despite playing a great match (2-2). After taking the lead twice with a fantastic goal from Kike García and another from Carlos Romero, a poor clearance from Pol Lozano and an unfortunate handball by Carlos Romero in the dying minutes condemned them. If they don't win soon, the league season could become a long and arduous one for Espanyol.

One of the first decisions Fran Garagarza made when he took over as sporting director of Espanyol was to stop the signing of Ferran Costa for Espanyol B and sign Manolo GonzálezHe wanted a more experienced profile, a coach who had battled for years in the mud of the Second Division RFEF. Having rejected higher-paying offers from higher-level clubs, such as Hércules, on July 3, 2023, the Galician became the coach of Espanyol's reserve team.

There's no way Espanyol can take flight. Despite a strong performance on the pitch, befitting a Champions League team, with an early goal, the Blanquiazules suffered another defeat (4-2) and have accumulated just two points out of a possible 24 in 2026. A version low cost from Atlético de Madrid that thrashed BarçaA brilliant second half, with Sorloth as the star, was enough to crush the spirits of Espanyol, who had hoped the point against Celta would set them free. Well, no, even though things quickly turned in their favor. Manolo González's main obsession was to keep a clean sheet again – the last time he achieved it was... December 13—which is why at the Metropolitano he included Riedel in the starting eleven and opted for a five-man defense; without Expósito, with a more combative than imaginative midfield, and with Kike García leading the line instead of Roberto. The initial game plan was clear: protect, try to win the ball back, and launch attacks with the speed of Dolan and Jofre.