In 2009, Espanyol went to the Camp Nou as bottom of the League and emerged victorious thanks to De La Peña’s goals. To that magical party, known as the Delapeñazo, Now the fans are grabbing hold of the parakeet to dream that a victory is possible at the Lluís Companys in the face of the very different dynamics that Espanyol and Barça are experiencing. To analyze the complexities of this encounter, The Vanguard He spoke hours before the derby with illustrious parakeet personalities.
“I see some possibility of surprise,” says Moisés Hurtado, former Espanyol player. “Maybe after such a good week there will be a bit of relaxation at Barça. In derbies things can always happen, although it is true that Barça under normal conditions is much superior,” he concedes.
In derbies away from home, the fans do not aspire to win, but to compete with dignity.”
The numbers and feelings give Barça favoritism, which for Dani Solsona, a former parakeet player, “is real, and I like to be realistic. Barça is superior and Espanyol has problems with goals, among the three forwards they have brought in they have only scored one,” he highlights.
For Joan Golobart, also a former player, Barça not only has “impressive” results, but is also surpassed by “the feeling of the game it transmits. To round out the circle, it is a group that aspires to much more and is far from entering into self-contemplation.”
I glimpse some possibility of surprise if there is relaxation at Barça”
The rivalry between the home players who have experienced this type of matches is a factor that for Hurtado can “equalize the match emotionally.” However, for Pichi Alonso, a former player for both teams, this factor can turn against Espanyol, since “there are a large number of young Barça players who have experienced this type of match and who will want to play it to the fullest,” he considers.
In the football field, Alonso highlights that although Barça has great wingers, Espanyol will have to “be very strong inside to be able to stop them and be able to come out with the ball. Pol Lozano’s injury doesn’t help. “They will have to look for a defensive profile to replace him.” Furthermore, he considers that the way to attack this Barça is with “men who come from the second and third line. Breaking this type of offside for forwards is very complicated.”
I am realistic and Barça is superior, but in football the small details decide.”
The recipe for getting something positive out of your visit to Montjuïc is, according to Solsona, “wait for your opportunity. I imagine Espanyol in their own field defending and covering holes on all sides. With a system of five defenses.” Hurtado highlights that the blue and white team “has already scored several goals from set pieces and that could be the way to surprise.”
All of them agree without any doubt that a defeat should not affect Manolo González’s continuity in office. For Golobart, it would be “absurd” to dismiss the coach, and he describes the mere possibility as “undignified and ignorant.” Alonso clarifies, however, that “how also matters in the case of a defeat.”
“Espanyol will have to be very strong inside to equalize the match”
Beyond the result, for Joan Golobart the fundamental thing in a derby is “to give the feeling of being a team and of dignity.” “When I played derbies I told my teammates, especially if they were in the rival’s field, that the fans don’t want you to win, but they do want to compete,” he concludes.
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