Manolo González's swearing serves as a warning to Espanyol

BarcelonaEspanyol hit rock bottom at the Estadio de la Cerámica. The thrashing inflicted by Villarreal, who scored four goals in 20 minutes, held a mirror up to Manolo González's men. The disastrous episode experienced last Monday in La Plana Baixa is the epitome of a tragic 2026 for Espanyol, who since New Year's Eve have only managed one point out of a possible 18 and have suffered four consecutive defeats.

Espanyol were very confident as they ate their grapes, with the memory of victory at San Mamés Days before Christmas; it was their fifth consecutive league victory, leaving Espanyol, after a surprisingly historic first half of the season, very close to the Champions League places. As expected, Europe was a recurring topic of conversation in Espanyol households during the holidays, and even the club's new owner, Alan Pace, spoke openly about it – "Perhaps we can go to Europe," he said a few days ago in an interview with DAZN.

A cursed word

In an environment as visceral and cyclothymic as that of Espanyol, with its trigger-happy tendencies, the word Europe It appears and disappears very frequently. And in a way, it's a cursed word. Just ask Ernesto Valverde, who at the beginning of 2008 had the team third in the standings and playing like angels, how the season ended. Or in Chen Yansheng, who upon his arrival promised the Champions League in three years and ended up selling the club with two promotions under his belt.

Or take Rubi, who seven years ago went from being second in the standings to accumulating nine defeats in ten matches and having one foot out the door – although, miraculously, the Blanquiazules ended up qualifying for the Europa League with him on the bench. Or Manolo González himself, who last April was asked about Espanyol's continental aspirations – "Europe? At the Nou Sardenya," he replied – a team that only managed to avoid relegation half an hour from the end of the competition.

Manolo doesn't like to talk about it at all, and this season he hasn't been so witty. "So much fuss about Europe and so much bullshit... Let's see if we're making a mistake," he exploded two weeks ago, after the defeat against Alavés, fed up with carrying unnecessary pressure for a team built to avoid relegation and whose only reinforcements in the winter were... Cyril Ngonge, on loan. The Galician coach is clear: "You can't talk about Europe if you don't have 42 points."

Reasons for the slump

Beyond managing expectations and the pressure Espanyol is under, it's clear the team is in crisis, both in terms of results and performance. They're not the team they were two months ago; the players have lost confidence, and the team, disorganized and unfocused, is no longer the reliable or competitive side that characterized them at the start of the season. Now they're fragile and easily crumble, as seen in Villarreal.

This, coupled with the individual errors that are repeated week after week and that so infuriate Manolo González, explains why Marko Dmitrovic has conceded goals every matchday since mid-December; the complete opposite of what happened at the start of the season. "It's time to make a reset "We need to close down the defense. Otherwise, we won't get anywhere..." said the Galician coach on Monday, who wants to rebuild the team from the ground up. Added to this is the frustration over certain unfair refereeing decisions that have decided matches and further destabilized an emotionally shaken Espanyol side that, despite everything, is still in sixth place. This Saturday, they face Celta Vigo, their closest rival. If they lose, they will be out of the European places for the first time since October 20th. If they win, they will reach 37 points and be just shy of 42. Then, talk of Europe will return.