The year 1929 was the year of the Great American Depression and the end of the Primo de Rivera dictatorship in Spain. But the Espanyol fan comes to mind, above all, his first Copa del Rey against Real Madrid at Mestalla, in the famous final of the Water (2-1). Such a comforting year in the life of this historic man who is now fighting to return to the First Division could not end in a better way than with another game for the newspaper library, the one played in Chamartín on such a day as today 91 years ago.
In the second edition of the League, Spanish (now Espanyol) appeared at the merengue stadium with one of its best teams in history, captained by Ricardo Zamora in goal. It was matchday 5 and Real Madrid had not yet been able to win. The match began evenly, according to the chronicle of 'La Vanguardia' of the time with a Madrid all “fury” and a Espanyol that defended itself with German security. Tena II had overtaken the parakeets, led by the English Jack Greenwell, but Galé tied at the equator of the first half (1-1).
Vidal, the Real Madrid goalkeeper.
AS newspaper
At 1-1, no one could foreshadow the parakeet football gale in the second half. “The Spanish threw the ball to the ground and embroidering magnificent combinations based on short passes, he developed a wonderful game”, explains the chronicler. In the blink of an eye, Bosch, Zamoreta and again Tena II made it 1-4 on the scoreboard. The win could be more scandolsa if it does not come to be for the expertise of Quesada. Olaso, in a strange error by Zamora, made up the match with a 2-4 that did not prevent Real Madrid's second defeat at their stadium in La Liga, after losing to Barcelona in the previous campaign.
With five defeats in a row, that Madrid starred in an unusual event. He arrived bottom at matchday 6, in which he straightened the course, but coach José Quirante did not prevent him from entering history as the coach with the most defeats in a row for the white team. Finally, Espanyol and Real Madrid finished the season on par, in fourth and fifth position, far from the title but also from the lower zone.
Throughout history, Espanyol has only been able to beat Real Madrid three more times as a visitor in the League. In the 1952-53 campaign they won 1-2, and the same results were repeated in the 1980-81 and 1995-96 campaigns, in which Jordi Lardín was the protagonist with his goals.