In a cadet match against Barça with Messi, Cesc, and Piqué, Fran Rubio realized he would never become a professional player and that if he wanted to dedicate himself to football, it would have to be off the field. That's why he trained as a coach, and at 15 years old, he began working in the youth academy of Can Vidalet, a modest neighborhood club in Esplugues de Llobregat. “At university I met Carles Romagosa and David Hernández, who together with Joan Vilà –one of the great defenders of the Barça DNA and discoverer of Xavi Hernández–, founded the Ekkono method,” says Fran Rubio, who convinced Pedro Rubio, the club's president and his father, to start using this revolutionary training methodology at Can Vidalet.

Ramon Rodríguez Verdejo (San Fernando, 1968) is known by everyone as Monchi and is identified as the architect of the greatest Sevilla in history and one of the best sporting directors in the world. He is backed by more than a dozen titles, including seven Europa Leagues, and many millions in capital gains. With this resume, it is not surprising that his signing for Espanyol has unleashed euphoria among many 'periquitos'. Seduced by Alan Pace, with whom he began to meet more than two months ago, he will try to replicate his successful formula as the entity's general sporting director, which presented him to society on Tuesday.

It had been years since Espanyol had enjoyed such a calm end to the season, without the worry of knowing if they would play in the First or Second Division next year. It is the reward for having done their homework; very late, after 18 long, agonizing matchdays, but just in time. That is why the draw against Real Sociedad (1-1) did not hurt. It was inconsequential. In case of victory, they would not have been able to qualify for the Conference League either. It would have been a cinematic ending to the schizophrenic season of the Catalan team, capable of fighting for the Champions League and seriously seeing its survival in danger after almost five months without a win.danger its survival after almost five months without a win.

“It is a very special week. You see children walking down the street in our shirt or the elderly talking at the bar about Sunday's match. On days like these, you realize how important the football club is to the municipality”, says Carles Aguirre, president of L’Horta de Sant Joan, one of the 174 teams between Quarta Catalana and Tercera RFEF who are playing promotion playoffs this weekend. The first leg is in La Fatarella, which is also from Terres de l’Ebre and, like L’Horta de Sant Joan, plays on a sand pitch. In less than 24 hours, the fan bus was filled. “It’s the last category, but the feeling is the same. For us, who are a village of a thousand inhabitants, it is a great success”, Aguirre proudly claims.

The Espanyol nightmare is over, which last night left behind months of suffering and frustration, the worst in the careers of Manolo González and a good part of his footballers. At El Sadar, a cursed ground where the white and blues headed for the Second Division for the first time in the 21st century, they secured permanence with a goal from Carlos Romero and another from Kike García (1-2). Now, the 'periquitos' can breathe a sigh of relief, having started the year dreaming of Europe and ending the season with their backs to the wall... but with 45 points. All this, thanks to two wins in four days after almost five months without achieving one. Such is football.

The most dramatic League in memory is approaching its conclusion, especially at the bottom. With only two matchdays left and Oviedo out of the running, up to nine teams are involved in the fight for the most expensive survival in history. Two of them are Catalan: Espanyol and Girona. At the moment, Llevant and Mallorca would be relegated, both having 39 points and facing each other this Sunday. They have the same points as Elx, the first team to be safe; one less than Girona and three less than Espanyol, who have 42. Sevilla and Valencia are not yet out of danger because, in a League as crazy as this year's, no one can be sure that with 43 points you won't fall to the Second Division.

Manolo González's cry was more of liberation than joy. Almost of redemption. With the 2-0 in stoppage time, the blue and white coach burst into tears. A victory at last. A purgative triumph that ended 142 long days of penance. The goals from Pere Milla and Kike García broke a streak of almost five months without a win for the periquitos and scared away the ghost of relegation that was nipping at their heels. They now have 42 points. It's not definitive, but yesterday they took a giant step towards survival.

“We have to be optimistic and positive. We are very clear about what we have to do”, declared Ramon Terrats after the defeat of Espanyol against Madrid. His hopeful phrase was going in one direction, but his gestures in another. He looked deeply afflicted, desolate. “Each person deals with it in their own way. I consider myself guilty of what happened because I had chances and didn't score”, admitted Terrats, Espanyol member 5,894, a reflection of the state of mind of a team that has gone 18 games without a win and has gone from fighting for Europe to being very close to the abyss of relegation, now two points away.

Espanyol presents a very bad image. One more matchday they continue without winning, and now it's 18. In Seville, in a life-or-death duel against a direct rival, they were on the verge of achieving it (2-1). But in the final moments of the match, a goal from Castrín equalized Tyrhys Dolan's 0-1 and frustrated the virtual permanence of the 'periquitos', who ended up falling in a very cruel way with a second goal in injury time from Adams.

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.”