Garlic, witches and the Moreneta: remedies for Espanyol's ills
The white and blue team has not won a match since the end of 2025
BarcelonaEspanyol 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).
This scenario is not unfamiliar to Espanyol, who have faced similar negative runs throughout their history. Under Rubi in the 2018-19 season, they replicated their current record of 4 points out of 33; at that time, the club maintained their confidence in the manager from Maresme, who, with improved football and a therapeutic comeback against Rayo Vallecano, is now... turn the situation inside out...to the point of ultimately qualifying the Blue and Whites for Europe.
Mauricio Pochettino's faith
The situation was far more dramatic ten years earlier. From November 9, 2008, until early March 2009, Espanyol only won one of 19 matches, accumulating just 10 points out of a possible 57 under the management of Tintín Márquez, Mané, and Mauricio Pochettino, who was embarking on his first adventure at the helm of a professional team. After the defeat at El Sadar on March 22, Espanyol was bottom of the table, eight points from safety. "There were ten matches left, and we had to win seven or eight. It was practically impossible to stay up," Ferran Corominas, a member of that team, told ARA. The Blanquiazules needed a miracle to avoid relegation, and the Argentine coach entrusted himself to the Moreneta (the Black Madonna of Pamplona): accompanied by his inseparable assistant Feliciano Di Blasi, two days after the defeat in Pamplona, Pochettino walked from Monistrol to the monastery of Espanyol. But praying wasn't enough. "Since it coincided with an international break, they put us in a training camp in Navata for several days," recalls the Banyoles striker. The aim was to isolate the squad from the outside world to work on tactical and, above all, mental aspects with Di Blasi, who held the position of technical-scientific coordinator. "He acted somewhat as a psychologist, giving us a kind of group therapy session to try to instill in us faith, to make us believe in staying up," he reveals. Corominas, expert in miracles
It worked. Upon returning to competition, Espanyol beat Deportivo and strung together seven victories in nine matches, securing their survival with a resounding win against Almería one matchday before the end of the season. Pochettino, Luis García, and De la Peña returned to the Montserrat Abbey to give thanks for divine intervention. "Confidence is key, and even if you don't deserve it, victories are a huge boost. If you don't win, sometimes you ease up or don't dare to try certain things. In football, and in all sports in general, there's a strong mental aspect," concludes Corominas.
Garlic and 'witches'
"Psychologists? We didn't have those in our day," Manuel Zúñiga, an Espanyol player between 1979 and 1988, remarks with a laugh. At the beginning of the 1984-85 season, with Xabier Azkargorta as manager, he endured a six-day losing streak. At the time, some even wondered if this run of form was due to a curse, and a few players even believed in witches. As the program recalled a few days ago... Spanish reserved From 3Cat, Job, one of Zúñiga's teammates, came up with the idea of planting garlic in the goalposts at Sarrià to ward off bad luck. From then on, the blue and whites started winning.
"Perhaps I'm wrong, but I think we planted the garlic during the 1986-87 season to maintain a winning streak. Throughout the entire season, we only lost one home game, against Real Madrid in the play-off"And we finished third. We did very well," disagrees Iñaki Pérez de Arrilucea, a member of the team from 1984 to 1990. "Be that as it may, from witches "There's always been one. And there still is, you know? But hey, it's not enough to just plant garlic. A bad run is broken with hard work and confidence. I believe in that more than superstitions," says Zúñiga, convinced of the reaction of Manolo González's men: "Espanyol shouldn't get carried away because the players are the same ones who had a fantastic first half of the season. With patience, victory will come."