Espanyol, at the most critical moment in its sporting history

Now that the financial burdens of a lifetime – which on more than one occasion endangered the viability of the club – seem to be banished, Espanyol goes through in its sports section, directed by Francisco Joaquín Pérez Rufete, for a critical moment, which is based not only on the bad streak of the men's first team, but also transcends its other two flagships: the subsidiary and the Feminine A. Together, the three sets they link a whopping 15 days without winning. And what is worse, they move away from their respective goals, with the very present threat that they can obtain the worst balance of results in the history of Espanyol, which is said soon.

What about Vicente Moreno's squad is already like groundhog day, by dint of repeating itself. In Anduva, against Mirandés (2-2) he chained his third consecutive tie, after those harvested against Sporting de Gijón (1-1) and Oviedo (1-1). Markers that destroy what adding is always positive, because in reality seems insufficient for a team in need of finishing in the top two finishers to go straight to First, always pending that their direct rivals fail. Before those three draws it is true that Espanyol linked two victories, against Mallorca (1-2) and Sabadell (1-0), but at that moment they also came from a draw and two defeats. It should be remembered that, although the parakeet club it had been seen before in the Second position four times in its 120-year history, it always rose to the first.

It acquires even more tragic overtones, due to the small margin that remains, a Espanyol B that has gotten almost without realizing it in the well of the experimental Segunda B of this season. He is ninth in Group 3A with 20 points, a five already from the seventh, the one that marks at least salvation, when only two matches remain at stake –and one of them, the next one, against Nàstic de Tarragona, leader–. It has been four days since the parakeet subsidiary has won: drew against Llagostera (1-1) and lost against Badalona (0-2), Cornellà (4-3) and Barcelona B (0-1).

In case of not reaching that seventh place, José Aurelio Gay's team would seal its first relegation of the season –From the current Second B to the new RFEF Second Division, to two categories and to the Second A– and it would be disputed Another league so as not to land in Third, which would mean playing for the first time in its history not the fourth but the fifth category of Spanish football, due to the new competition system established by the Federation.

And if the affiliate dives into unexplored territories, Female A has never ceased to belong to the First Division, now Primera Iberdrola. But, after his defeat last Saturday at the hands of Santa Teresa (1-2), has fully sneaked into that area, fifteenth, with 18 teams, and one of the permanence.

In his case, there is still time to reverse the drama, with the 12 rounds of the rest of the rivals ahead and one more, a pending match, which can give him wings. But for that you have to win, something that the blue and white have not achieved for four days, which count for defeats against Athletic Club (3-0), Rayo Vallecano (2-0), Real Madrid (4-1) and Santa Teresa. Crucial weeks ahead. For the future of the season. And for the history of the club.