At the Darders’ house, in Artà (Mallorca), Atlético de Madrid’s goals were celebrated loudly. Later, they became those of Malaga, Olympique de Lyon and Espanyol, but those Sundays at 5:00 p.m. in the 90s, the current parakeet midfielder and his family were followers of the rojiblanco club. “I watch the games of Espanyol, Mallorca and Atleti. At home, we’ve been with Atleti since we were little”, summed up his father recently in SER Baleares. Even “there were conversations with Atlético in the past,” detailed the father.
The Darder’s fury over Atlético has long since turned into blue and white feeling, as the midfielder arrives at Wanda as the leader of a saved team. No one doubts at Espanyol that Darder is in the best moment of his career, as his numbers also indicate: three goals, nine assists and he is the second midfielder, behind Luka Modric, with the most successful drives. The last one, against Celta, a slalom inside the area to avoid two rivals and set up a goal pass. The recovery and assistance to Wu Lei in the 1-0 with which the match ended was also his.
LaLiga Santander
*Data updated as of April 16, 2022
In fact, Espanyol’s last goal at the Wanda Metropolitano was from the Mallorcan himself, in the 2019-20 campaign, that of Espanyol’s relegation. Because Darder has been through thick and thin. The then sports director Ramón Planes did not count on him in 2012 when he was due to be promoted to the first team, but after his success in Malaga and Lyon he returned at a rate of eight million. Darder, the unbreakable (he has only lost 15 League games in five years) and the leader, summed up his message in ‘Darderism’, a concept that was coined in the summer of 2018 when he declared that “we think of winning the League”.
A thought that took Espanyol to Europe 12 years later, after a traumatic relegation and now back to the middle of the First Division. A Darder who needed to go to a psychologist to open his mind, as he has recognized in numerous interviews. With Vicente Moreno, moreover, he has found a coach who has molded him and has implanted new resources in his game. The player is slowing down his renewal, whose contract expires in 2023. He is 28 years old and wants to go even further into the history of the parakeet club. Conquering the Wanda Metropolitano is a first step.