The hypertension of Espanyol

The game was dying and the 0-0 was almost inevitable. But Espanyol took a step forward and Javi Puado started a pressure in the opposite field that led to Celta’s error and Wu Lei’s goal. The skilful striker blocked the passing lanes for goalkeeper Matías Dituro, and accompanied by Raul de Tomas, Yangel Herrera, Tony Vilhena and Sergi Darder He managed to get the ball to the Mallorcan, the team’s best assistant. The midfielder decided well and Wu Lei debuted this season with a definition from the heart.

The goal and, therefore, the victory came thanks to an unusual characteristic of the game in Vicente Moreno’s approaches, that as he has recognized in various interviews the best thing is to adapt to the profile of the players. And, in those game plans, that suffocating pressure in the rival field is rarely valued as other teams in the championship do: in fact, Espanyol is the second team in the championship that recovers the fewest balls per game on the opposite side.

The last one is Elche, which averages 6.53 balls recovered per game. Vicente Moreno’s team follows with 7.13. A statistic that gets worse at home, where Espanyol has won 31 points and has spent most of the games ahead of the scoreboard. The average at home is 6.4 for 7.83 away, where only eight points have been achieved and where the team needs to risk more when they are behind on the scoreboard.

Vicente Moreno’s changes are oriented at home to go and look for the games when the score is even, as happened on Sunday. The team went from playing with three players in midfield to only two left, with Puado more liberated, RdT, Wu Lei and Vilhena at the point of attack and only Sergi Darder and Yangel Herrera holding the team. This led the Blue and Whites to take a step forward and recover five balls in the last 20 minutes of the match.