Espanyol pulls the blanket

In balance is virtue. And the victories. The Greek philosophers knew it and also the coaches, such as Espanyol, delighted to have reached the league break, and the derby that wait this saturday against Barcelona, ​​for the first time all season with a favorable balance of goals: 14 scored, 13 received. Balance is, in soccer, Tim’s famous blanket. And the parakeet is sheltering just enough to get away with it.

The contrast is brutal between the first eight days of the League, which were played until stop from the beginning of October, and this last section with victories against Cádiz (2-0) and Granada (2-0), draws against Elche (2-2) and Athletic Club (1-1), and defeat in Getafe (2-1) . And not just for points, since from nine points in eight games (1.12 per game) Espanyol went on to add eight points in five games (1.6). The balance, voluntary or not, is due to the team’s ability to defend and attack.

In the last five meetings, hEspanyol has granted much more, up to 40 percent more in shots on goal, and yet his average of goals conceded has not suffered, at an average of one per game. A good part of the credit must go to him, it is true, the virtuous state of Diego López, leader of First in stops with 49, well ahead of the second classified, the Nasrid Luis Maximiano, with 41. The rivals now need 5.6 shots between the three sticks to mark Espanyol, for the four that were enough until the afternoon of Real Madrid.

But if Espanyol has received a lot more lately, it is because it is also has greatly increased its offensive production. And his scoring ability: he scored six goals in the first eight days, up to eight in the last five. He scores one out of every three times he shoots between the three sticks (before I needed four) and, in fact, shoots 66 percent more on goal: 25 times in five days, for 24 of the first eight. No wonder Raúl de Tomás leads that statistic in LaLiga, with 21 attempts, for the 20 of the madridista Karim Benzema.

It is very likely that Tim’s blanket that continually shifts between his feet and head is contained in view of the derby this coming Saturday, as it already happened against Real Madrid and Atlético, two meetings in which few shots were produced in both directions. But the good news for Espanyol is that it has started to strike a balance, virtue, victories, fighting in both areas. Where the parties are decided.