Espanyol vs Barcelona: LaLiga recovers the old normality

On the weekends of November 20-21 Y February 12-13 will be the dates of Barcelona derby, first at the Camp Nou and, in the second round, at the RCDE Stadium. The composition of the calendar and the entry into force of a new season, on July 1, make official what was mathematically a fact since last March 8: Espanyol recovers the old military normality in the First Division and, consequently, that of facing Barcelona.

Espanyol-Barcelona and vice versa not only has been repeated in 85 of the 90 seasons in which LaLiga has been played but has become, as now, the only match between Catalan teams on up to 59 occasions. Girona was about to cause there to be three teams in the territory, but no, Rayo Vallecano prevented it. Likewise, it closes an atypical season with only one representative from Catalonia in the First Division, which had only happened previously in the 1962-63 and 1989-90 campaigns. And that, together with parrots and culés, six other teams have ever competed in the top category: Sabadell (14 times), Gymnastic of Tarragona (four), Europe (three), Lleida, Girona (two and Condal (a).

Not in vain, in two seasons up to four Catalan teams came together in Primera –from 1947 to 1949 Barcelona, ​​Espanyol, Nàstic and Sabadell did it–, and on up to 24 occasions, three did, with disparate combinations in which the two current elite clubs were always involved. In addition to the 59 for Barça and Espanyol, there were two in which the Catalans shared a poster with another team, Sabadell in 1969-70 and Lleida in 1993-94. But the natural state of things, the most repeated, is the one that will be experienced from next August 13. The old normal returns.