A 9,432-day derby

They did not reach 15,000 those present in Sarrià that Wednesday night, in which Espanyol lived the hangover of his passage to the quarterfinals of the Copa del Rey after having dismounted Real Madrid, in which Bill Clinton was running for re-election in the United States, Felipe González to his Before José María Aznar in Spain, the snow was collapsing the Pyrenees and the posters of ‘Showgirls’ were displayed in theaters before the imminent premiere, that weekend. It was that January 24, 1996, the last time the parrots advanced in the classification to Barcelona so late a season. Now they are in a position to repeat it.

Precisely to a future culé – Juan Antonio Pizzi, top scorer at that time with 17 goals – managed to cancel the Espanyol of José Antonio Camacho that evening to take the three points. Even so, Antonio Mata advanced to Tenerife and the locals had to be fully used to overcome. First, Jordi Lardín, on a volley to the center of Florin Raducioiu. After, one minute to go, Mauricio Pochettino solving a ruckus in the area of ​​his compatriot Marcelo Ojeda. A 2-1 that, together with the 0-0 that Barcelona was not able to pass from Cruyff the next day in Merida, placed Espanyol with 45 points after the twenty-third day, snatching second place from the azulgranas, who added 43.

Although the ‘sorpasso’ was ephemeral, well came undone that same weekend, yes marked the reference for this Espanyol that can achieve the same in the fourteenth round of LaLiga 2020-21, just 9,432 days later. Almost nothing. They now arrive even on points, 17, although Barcelona has a pending game, which was suspended against Sevilla due to the late arrival of the CONMEBOL internationals. A victory at the Camp Nou would make history a quarter of a century later.

In these 25 years, Yes, Espanyol came to advance to Barça circumstantially, but always in the early stages of the competition: he achieved it after the first working day in the seasons 1998-99 and 2015-16 and after the third day The bells 2004-05 –In which that ‘sorpasso’ earned the parrots to become leaders– and 2005-06.

More curious were the first three dates of 2008-09, that of Pep Guardiola’s debut, which started with Espanyol ahead. Later the distances would become insurmountable, except on the night of ‘Delapeñazo‘(1-2 at the Camp Nou with a double by Iván de la Peña). Oddities that give more value to the golden opportunity that Vicente Moreno’s men now face in the premiere of Xavi Hernández.