The rivalry between Barça and Espanyol is very present whenever the two clubs face each other. A few weeks ago it was experienced at the Camp Nou with the men's derby and at Johan Cruyff in the match between the reserve teams, and this Wednesday (7 p.m.) the excitement moves to the Ciutat Esportiva Dani Jarque with the duel that will pit the two women's teams against each other. A match that takes on special relevance because the blaugranes could certify the League title at the home of their eternal rival. Pere Romeu's team depends on itself and will be champions if they beat Espanyol. In the minds of all culers and pericos is what happened three years ago, in 2023, at the RCDE Stadium, when an invasion forced the cancellation of the blaugranes' celebration on the pitch. Fortunately, the blanc-i-blaves already have their survival assured and the tension will be less than what was experienced that day at the RCDE.

Joy comes in waves. Barça already feels like La Liga champions and Espanyol is pulling its hair out, unable to win a single match this year. Some are already preparing the street celebrations and others are looking with some concern at the relegation zone, lest they end up suffering. In a derby marked by the awakening of Ferran Torres, who had been dormant for months, Barça did its homework and left Madrid far behind in the standings. Very far. 9 points behind, which seems like a world. The difference between Barça and Espanyol is also huge, although Manolo's team managed to compete in the second half, in which they managed to cause some concern for Barça. If the first half was blue and red, in the second Lamine Yamal and Rashford sealed the rout of a team that had suffered a little; not much, but had suffered.

Saturday's derby is on, and it's been years since it promised so much: Espanyol are on a winning streak and have Champions League qualification within reach. Barça arrive as league leaders and have also won their last five matches. The Espanyol fans' confidence is sky-high, and there's a palpable sense of hope that if they ever had the footballing ability to beat Barça in La Liga at Cornellà-El Prat for the first time, that day has finally arrived.

125 days later, Espanyol, the League's most fashionable team, lost again. However, with their heads held high and on the pitch of Real Madrid, the league's top team and winners of every game this season. A surprising shot from 35 yards by central defender Militao triggered the first defeat of the season for Manolo González's team, who arrived at the Bernabéu with the possibility of taking the lead if they achieved an unprecedented victory, one that hasn't been seen for thirty years, since the era of L. Mbappé, the undisputed leader of a civil servant Real Madrid, finished it off with another work of art.

At 7:30 on Saturday, May 24th, with half an hour left in the 2024-2025 La Liga season, Espanyol was in the Second Division. Finally, Puado and Pere Milla avoided a relegation that would have been traumatic for a club that, stripped of its star player, 115 days after that agonizing salvation has established itself in the Champions League zone and is the third classified in First with the same number of points as FC Barcelona. And this Saturday they visit Real Madrid (4:15 p.m., Movistar+) with the possibility of taking the lead if they attack the Bernabéu, where they haven't won in thirty years.

This Espanyol is capable of anything. After 40 very good minutes against a Mallorca side with water up to their necks, and going 2-0 up on the scoreboard, two decisions by referee Hernández Hernández turned the dynamics of a match that seemed over for the revelation team of the season. But neither the controversial expulsion of Pere Milla before the break nor the 2-2 draw by Muriqi could stop Manolo González's team, who with a man less and in a brutal exercise of resistance found the 3-2, Kike Garcia's penalty, to establish themselves in third place and equal on points with FC Barcelona. Madrid, with two more, are the leaders and the next opponents of the blue and whites, at the Bernabéu.

Fran Garagarza had long considered the idea of creating a second Espanyol reserve team, introducing an Espanyol C into the blue and white structure. After exploring various possibilities, in early 2025 he contacted Vilassar de Mar, a historic club from Maresme with over a century of history that competed in the Third Division RFEF. The threat of relegation from the Elite League cooled negotiations, but despite the confirmation of the relegation, talks resumed in June, concluding with an agreement whereby Vilassar would become Espanyol's second reserve team.

"It's hard to figure out how to maintain two countries and not be left behind," sang La Trinca. Well, one of Espanyol's latest signings doesn't have two, but four. He's Luka Warrick Koleosho (Connecticut, United States, 2004). Born to a Nigerian-American father and an Italian-Canadian mother, he could also obtain Spanish nationality if he wanted and would be eligible for selection by five different countries. So far, he's played for the youth teams of the United States and Italy, and has been called up to the Canadian national team. "I don't know anything about Nigeria," he said at his presentation, when he ruled out the African option.

On May 22, 2005, Iturralde González disallowed a goal against Osasuna for a non-existent offside, which would have put Espanyol in the Champions League for the first time in their history. Since then, the Blanquiazules, who have never played with the star ball, have only appeared in the top four of La Liga a handful of times (18 in 687 matches), the last time at the end of 2018. That's why many Espanyol fans, when the referee blew the final whistle, took a screenshot of the table to immortalize the virtual fourth position (Barça played later) of an Espanyol that has yet to lose, has seven out of nine, and won't play for another 15 days due to the league break. Carlos Romero, the scorer of the only goal, is inviting everyone to a more than deserved vacation.

For the second Sunday in a row, Pere Milla unleashed ecstasies among the blue and white fans. In the Basque Country, the iconic striker from Lleida, with the hair of a cult singer, found the net again and, within minutes of the match, declared Espanyol's state of bliss, who had Real Sociedad on the ropes in a brilliant first hour. It was short-lived because a defensive mishap turned everything upside down in a highly emotional duel that left Manolo González's team tasting bittersweet wine, as they took only a point from their visit to Real Sociedad.

Espanyol's season of consolidation in the elite, the one that breaks with Rastar Group And leaving behind a decade with one European qualification and two traumatic relegations, they started on the right foot. A change of ownership, an increase in season ticket holders, a sales success for the new shirt (yesterday the queue was out of the store), an unbeaten run in the preseason... all the hype The turmoil surrounding the Perico club since Joan Garcia's departure was met with a rejuvenated Atlético de Madrid, once again a contender for everything, in the 37th minute with a superb free-kick from Julián Álvarez. But a set piece executed by Edu Expósito and finished off by Miguel Rubio and a real stunner from Pere Milla late in the match unleashed a party at the RCDE Stadium, in ecstasy over the colossal performance of Manolo González's men, which sent Simeone to the corner to think.

Espanyol has a new owner. Alan Pace, a partner at the ALK Capital fund and director of its sports subsidiary, Velocity Sport Limited (VSL), will take over from Chen Yansheng at the helm of the blue and white club. With an English parent company but partly owned by American shareholders, VSL also owns Burnley. With this transaction, Rastar, which currently holds 99.66% of the shares, will become part of the English holding company.

In the penultimate friendly of the preseason, last Saturday at Union Berlin's ground, Manolo González gave his debut as a blue and white player to Tyrhys Dolan (Manchester, 2001), Espanyol's latest signing and the first signing of the Alan Pace eraThe English winger has arrived at Cornellà-El Prat on a free transfer after finishing his contract with Blackburn Rovers and has signed as a parakeet until 2028.

Joaquim Carandell (Manlleu, 1994) has been president of Unión Deportiva Tona for ten years now. In fact, he took office at just 21 years old, after being offered the position of president of a club that already had the main sponsorship of the family business. Benito Urban, dedicated to manufacturing street furniture: playgrounds, benches, streetlights, railings, and manhole covers, among many other products. "Out of innocence and recklessness," he admits, he accepted the challenge while studying business administration in Barcelona, despite realizing that he had a heavy responsibility ahead of him. However, his involvement with the club and the emotional bond with the town where he's lived since he was ten years old pushed him to take the reins of an organization that was then playing in the First Catalan League. A decade later, Tona has accumulated four seasons in the Third Federation, the fifth tier of Spanish football, and has already established itself as the top club in the Osona region.

Years ago, when professional teams didn't go on overseas tours in exchange for tickets, the big draw of preseason training was the summer tournaments. The Gamper or Teresa Herrera, who now have a residual significance, were unmissable events; also the Ramón de Carranza in Cádiz, considered the Champions League of the dog days, which took place at the end of August and marked the start of the season.

Every year at the end of July Espanyol remembers its debut in the Intertoto Cup, a dull and extinct summer tournament organized by UEFA that holds a privileged place in the collective imagination of the "perico" (Spanish footballers) and gives its name to the best crop of players to emerge from the Blanquiazul youth academy. Clubs that hadn't qualified for Europe via the La Liga competed, and the champions received a ticket to the UEFA Cup. In 1998, the Spanish representatives were Valencia and Español. Marcelo Bielsa, who had joined the Catalan club that summer, declined to participate; and to avoid a fine, the club entrusted Paco Flores, a club man, to participate in the Intertoto with players returning from loan, those discarded from the first team, and players from the reserve team.

In the Copa Catalunya final, Espanyol debuted its third kit, a navy blue colorway with the flag across the chest and neck. "It's inspired by the rich history and culture of Catalonia" and "is perfect for those who want to show their pride in Catalonia and Espanyol," the club proclaimed when unveiling the shirt, with a clear, Catalan slogan: "The shirt is our flag."

The Rastar Group, which owns 99.66% of RCD Espanyol's shares, has recently reached an agreement with Velocity Sport Limited (VSL), an English-based subsidiary with American shareholders, to become a shareholder in the holding company and form part of a strategic alliance that will transform the group's current strategic alliance. The Catalan entity announced this in a brief statement on its website.

The long queues that have formed at Espanyol's stadium shop since their first kit for the 2025-26 season went on sale last Thursday—the second, white kit was unveiled this Tuesday—confirm the success of Kelme's new design. "It has a style," retro that I like a lot. It's very pretty," he said Captain Javi Puado seeing it live for the first time, during the renewal ceremony of his contract with the club until 2030. The piece evokes the one worn by the team forty years ago, by the Catalan brand Massana, technical sponsor of the club between 1984 and 1994. It stands out for its polo-style collar and sleeves bearing the Massana logo, one of the most characteristic features of that shirt, which has become a museum piece.

A few days ago, Espanyol tweeted to congratulate Eloi Tost for achieving a 12.908 on the university entrance exams, the highest score of the seven players from their youth academy, all of whom passed, who took the university entrance exams (PAU). The Reus-born U19 B forward, who resides at the club's residence, needed a high score to enter the aerospace engineering degree, and Espanyol has given him every opportunity to obtain it. as in La MasíaDani Jarque, too, is given a lot of emphasis on his studies.