“My relationship with Vicente Moreno depends on him. He was the one who didn’t shake my hand,” said Luis García in the run-up to the last Copa del Rey match, which ended with a 2-1 victory for the vermilion team. “You can tell the truth or you can tell the half truth. And what you want to say, or are lies or bad intention…”, Vicente Moreno replied, annoyed with the Mallorca coach. They both have distinct personalities and understand their role in press conferences in opposite ways.
This pugilistic aroma will be present more than ever in Espanyol-Mallorca on Sunday, a game that could be decisive for Luis García Plaza. The vermilion team has lost the last five games and has approached the relegation zone. Cádiz, the team that scores now is a place, is only two points away and has recovered its sensations with Sergio González on the bench.
The matches between Espanyol and Mallorca with both coaches have been equal until the last minutes. The first of them occurred on the second day of the Second Division championship last year. A goalless draw at the RCDE Stadium in a meeting in which both teams have already presented their candidacy for promotion. In the second round, a goal from Nany Dimata resolved the match 1-2 and gave wings to an Espanyol that arrived immersed in a dangerous streak. “We have been infinitely better than them,” commented Luis García at the end of the match.
This course, the third game of the course was curiously the third between them. Luis García was emphatic in the previous one when Moreno praised Mallorca, calling it a “revelation team”. “They, if they are saved without any trouble, will not be a revelation team; that is the difference and I think I have already said everything… Espanyol have made seven signings so far, eight of us, but two years ago they bought players for more than 40 million euros, we cannot compare.” Mallorca won 1-0 against the Blue and Whites, who played one of the worst games of the season and began to write their bad story away from home.
The last was the Cup, where Vicente Moreno returned to Mallorca for the third time after his controversial departure after relegation, when Espanyol paid a release clause for the coach, which did not sit too well with some sectors of the fans. Now more welcome The Espanyol coach will want to get closer to salvation and match this imaginary fight with Luis García.