With nine days to go to the end of LaLiga SmartBank, the Spanish they now face their next two games against the current top seven. Leganes Y Almeria They represent the biggest challenge left to the Blue and Whites, a golden opportunity to virtually doom their direct promotion or, at least, to keep their pursuers at bay. An open window, too, to end one of the stigmata of the course.
Espanyol is undoubtedly the best team and the most regular (they have been the leader for 15 days), but their performance diminishes against the rivals that occupy the first positions. Of the 30 points at stake, those of Vicente Moreno have only added 11, which represents 33%, a quantity much less than what they have achieved in the rest of the matches: they added 56 points in 23 matches, which means 81% of those that were at stake, a real outrage.
Of those 11 points against the other 'greats' of Segunda, the four obtained against him stand out. Majorca (0-0 in Cornellà and 1-2 on the island), the same points achieved against Sporting (2-0 and 1-1) and the three points against the Almeria (2-1). The parakeet team has not managed to add to Vallecano Ray (1-0 and 2-3) and before him Girona (1-2 and 1-0), while he lost the first round match against the Leganes (2-0) in the strongest defeat of the course.
The Blue and White team has been weak defensively in this type of duel, in fact it only managed to leave a clean sheet in two out of ten, and Diego López has received 14 of the 21 goals that he adds, that is, 67%. A statistic that casts doubt on the quality of the squad or the team's performance against rivals who present it with more difficulties, as will happen next season in the event of promotion.
Putting the focus on these matches, Espanyol lived in some of them somewhat surreal situations, such as the comebacks of Girona and Rayo Vallecano at the RCDE Stadium, where the Blue and Whites were winning with solvency 1-0 and 2-0, or the meeting in Montilivi in which the misfortune in the auction deprived Vicente Moreno's team of a win. Espanyol would sign in these two matches to repeat the match against Girona in the second round but with a pinch of more success in the auction, which would guarantee that returning to Primera it would be almost a reality after these two encounters.