Soap bubbles. When it seemed that Espanyol could not come close to the embarrassing 5-1 achieved against Villarreal, the 4-0 at the Bernabéu arrived. A dagger to the heart of a season that will end a team in the First Division, yes; but, one more campaign, without a project or rebellion, nor self-esteem, a sad visitor to the championship, the ideal guest at a Madrid party that even unwittingly passed over him. The meeting also had other images that showed that the Sant Adrià bubble was not exactly made of soap bubbles.
The capture. It happened at minute 74. Specifically, that minute is when the cameras repeat some images that could well have happened before. Vicente Moreno gets up quickly, goes towards an RdT who is on the bench and grabs him by the chest before the striker’s absent gaze. The compliments between the two have been happening at press conferences. But that mutual appreciation exploded into the air. It has not been another week for the man from Madrid, who has already met the criticism of some fans on social networks. From Embarba’s rudeness in Mallorca to the coach’s reaction at the Bernabéu with RdT. Vicente Moreno, a quiet man, starred in an event never seen before in the two years he has been a parakeet. The epilogue of something.
Nadal… and Kyrgios. The RdT match did not make much sense. The player participated in inconsequential areas of the field. He stepped on little area, although he executed two dangerous shots. His loss of the ball in the second half, in an action in which Aleix Vidal was on the ground, led to the counterattack of Asensio’s goal. The Madrilenian was not activated after the loss of him. Shortly after came the change of Vicente Moreno, strange, more than anything because he had never left a game so soon before. The quality of the man from Madrid is as unquestionable as his anarchy on the pitch. On a very tennis-heavy afternoon at the Bernabéu, with Alcaraz in the box and Rafa Nadal also taking the honorary kick-off, the forward could be identified with Kyrgios: enormous qualities that do not match the results of his career.
“… But RdT is neither the beginning nor the end of Espanyol. Neither is Vicente Moreno, who has not finished confirming during the season the development of a consolidated game idea”
Beyond… But RdT is not the beginning or the end of Espanyol. Neither is Vicente Moreno, who has not finished confirming during the season the development of a game idea that is consolidated. The result of a squad with too many back and forth, like those of Yangel Herrera, photographed in the first two goals, a shadow of the player he could become, aware that in four games he will leave the squad. Like a Morlanes who has disappeared in the last three months or that Loren who looks like Carlos Henrique Raposo. When the group fails, even the Darder and Puado do not play at their level, dwarfed like this Saturday.
new fire. The numbers speak for themselves. Espanyol in the second round barely got 13 points. And there are only four games left to play. The deterioration of the values shown in the first round is evidence, either due to the little commitment of the squad at the end of the season (the passivity in the goals is another evidence), due to their shortcomings or due to the loss of faith in the trainer. Whatever it was, Espanyol went into a tailspin. The Sant Adrià bubble is about to burst.