Morlanes, unexpected break

It was not the dream derby for Manu Morlanes, who came out onto the pitch in the 62nd minute and saw two minutes later Raúl de Tomás put Espanyol ahead in a play in which the player from Zaragoza also participatedby giving continuity to the circulation with his pass to Sergi Darder, a prelude to the exquisite assistance of the Mallorcan and the lethal action of the Madrilenian. It was the moment of light in a meeting of shadows for Morlanes.

The midfielder, just eight minutes later, noticed a puncture in the right adductor and had to be replaced by Fran Mérida. After the tests carried out, the player suffers a proximal fibrillary rupture of the muscle, which could keep him in the infirmary for at least three weeks. The derby did not end there for Morlanes. He not only suffered, like the rest of the squad, the 2-2 ‘stick’ in the 96th minute, but he was sent off for repeatedly protesting and throwing the ball in the air in overtime (and sanctioned with two games) .

The absence of Morlanes, who has participated in 22 games (ten of them as starters), coincides with the returns of Keidi Barewho was once again a starter and lasted 62 minutes, during which time he stood out for his defensive actions, and also with that of Yangel Herrera, starting again almost two months later. The Venezuelan had a good match, both defensively and offensively.

A new Morlanes in Espanyol

Although each footballer has his own characteristics, the team model will determine his game actions. A clear example is that of the player on loan from Villarreal, who has gone from a dominating team like Almería in Second to another more reactive like Espanyol, in which he also alternates different positions and is used to participating in the second parts, when the games are more disorderly.

For this reason, the statistics show the two profiles of Morlanes in his last two years. The Espanyol midfielder must face more duels this season than the previous one, as well as only putting more crosses (direct play) this season in the blue and white team than the previous seasonand on the other hand he uses offensive actions less, such as passes (he gives 13 fewer per game on average, which represents 25%).