The calendar has provided that the return of the fans to the RCDE Stadium 538 days later will be against Villarreal of Gerard Moreno, the most international parakeet that on Saturday (19:30) will raise applause even if it is the rival to beat. Cornellà-El Prat will once again have spectators. Specifically, 11,373, all those partners who have requested to be present at the premiere of Vicente Moreno's ensemble at home after the promotion plus the part for sponsors.
The club, after the count of applications made this Tuesday, has made public that around 27% of the capacity will be covered this Saturday. “In total, 11,373 entries have been assigned, of which 10,271 correspond to paid members and 1,102 to competition sponsors and hospitality”, specify the entity in its statement. That number reaches almost the entire capacity allowed by LaLiga.
During the pandemic, the fans never left the team alone. Either by videos recorded and broadcast on the stadium video scoreboards, by the motadas that accompanied the coach to Cornellà-El Prat or the airport or by the massive (about 2,000 people) reception the day after a LaLiga SmartBank ended in which Espanyol finished as champion despite losing on the last day to Alcorcón.
The last time that Cornellà-El Prat enjoyed the public was on March 1, 2020, just when the contagion figures were beginning to rise and Italy was taking the first measures. That match, with Espanyol at the bottom of the table, ended 1-1 and 30,360 fans gathered at the RCDE Stadium. Both the team and the coaching staff have always publicly expressed their wishes for normalcy to return.