Espanyol and the four right-backs against Celta

The data is bizarre and curious: against Celta, in the first round, up to three right-backs played and for Sunday’s match at the RCDE Stadium a fourth will play. Óscar Gil, still injured that December, is now the undisputed starter in his second season as a parakeet and his first in the top flight. “I feel good, I have arrived at a good moment in the final stretch and I want to respond in the green”, she explained to the microphones of Espanyol TV after the preparatory session this Friday.

His loss conditioned Espanyol for two months. One example was the Balaidos match, where the Blue and Whites completed one of the worst matches of the season away from home. Miguel Llambrich started, in his only starting match, on that right side of the defense. The former Villarreal player played 58 minutes in a campaign that has been an ordeal for him due to injuries and physical problemsalso relegated to substitution due to Vicente Moreno’s confidence in Gil.

After Miguelón and until the 74th minute of that match, Aleix Vidal held that position. The Catalan, with a Espanyol that at that time was already losing 2-0, was replaced by Rubén Sánchez, who had made his debut against Cádiz in October and was playing his second game. Óscar Gil, now settled, hopes that the team will recover the winning path: “The week was short but we prepared well for the game. The three points are important”. To do this, he relies on the home factor: “It was reflected throughout the year in our stadium with the support of the fans, where there were positive results. We must continue to take advantage of it so that the victories come,” he declared.

With 36 points, the same as Celta, the former Elche winger, who was signed last summer for 500,000 euros, considers that the team’s idea has not changed (“a couple of weeks ago I already said that we were ambitious, it did not change the idea“) and that the Espanyol squad is configured “to be on top“, without a doubt the desire of the fans who hope to see their team win again and get closer to that psychological barrier of 40 points.