Espanyol gets drunk in the fourth round

Espanyol was unable to get through the fourth round of the Copa del Rey after having left on the road, in a single match, CD Solares, Palencia Cristo Atlético and Ponferradina on penalties, all of them of inferior category. But Mallorca, who had already defeated Vicente Moreno’s men 1-0 in LaLiga, was again the cross of the Blue and Whites, who fell in a bad match despite reaching the last minutes 2-1.

It is nothing that the parakeets get drunk in that fourth round. Since the 2005-06 campaign, when they managed to lift the fourth cup title in their history, they have not managed to play the fifth tie. They were about to achieve it in the 2014-15 campaign, curiously, with Sergio González, now Cádiz coach, but in that tie against Athletic, Espanyol had yet to solve it at the RCDE Stadium after the 1-1 they achieved in San Mamés.

In these 16 seasons, Espanyol has reached the quarter-finals of the Cup up to five times, so it is not an exception. The first of them was in the 2008-09 campaign, in the debut of Mauricio Pochettino on the bench, when Barcelona got the Blue and Whites out of reaching the semifinals. The last one, after an extension at Benito Villamarín with Joan Francesc Ferrer Rubi on the bench in the 2018-19 campaign, just three courses ago.

During this process, and despite the fact that the Blue and Whites have played a semi-final and reached the final, other clubs with similar or lesser resources have also experienced great moments. Athletic Club played four finals, while Real Sociedad lifted a title. Getafe played two finals, like Alavés who did it on one occasion. Mirandés played two semifinals or Deportivo, Leganés, Levante or Granada. Even Mallorca, which now keeps its options alive after knocking out Espanyol again in the fourth round.