Yangel and Cabrera, antagonists of Keidi Bare and Raúl de Tomás

Known was the loss of striker Raúl de Tomás, expelled in the final moments of Espanyol-Betis (1-4) before the break, in a parakeet team that will present more absences and news this Monday in its vvisits the Athletic Club in San Mamés. Vicente Moreno had warned of the inconvenience or indisposition of several players, and finally they will be Keidi Bare and Fernando Calero who stay in Barcelona. Conversely, Leandro Cabrera and the recovered Yangel Herrera return.

Of December 17, in the defeat against Celta in Balaídos (3-1), dates both the Yangel’s last start as his final minutes with the Espanyol shirt. On returning from the Christmas holidays, to prepare for the visit to Mestalla (1-2), the Venezuelan was already injured, with a microtear between soleus and gastrocnemius that has been lengthening, to the point that it has passed almost two months without even being able to enter any call. He has 16 games left to vindicate himself at Espanyol, since his loan from Manchester City does not include any purchase option.

Who also returns, in this case after a much shorter period of absence, is a Leandro Cabrera who only missed the last match of Espanyol, the rout he suffered at the RCDE Stadium at the hands of Betis (1-4) just before the league break. The day before, in Cádiz (2-2), he had seen his fifth yellow of the season a center-back that has had activity these two weeks, since made his debut in a call-up with the Uruguayan national team, in Diego Alonso’s debut as coach, although finally he did not play a single minute against Paraguay or against Venezuela. He has traveled more than 21,000 kilometers before this Athletic-Espanyol.

Thus, the entire Blue and White call is made up of: Oier, Miguelón, Pedrosa, Cabrera, Morlanes, Wu Lei, Fran Mérida, Puado, Darder, Óscar Gil, Diego López, Melendo, David López, Loren, Dídac, Dimata, Vilhena, Nico Melamed, Aleix Vidal, Embarba, Sergi Gómez, Yangel Herrera and Joan Garcia.

Espanyol urgently needs to get its first victory of this 2022 to calm the waters in a naturally nervous environment due to the team’s bad run, although to do so they will have to deal with a sweet Athletic after getting Barcelona and Real Madrid out of the Copa del Rey, both in San Mamés, the scene of this Monday’s meeting at 9:00 p.m.