Another LaLiga season is upon us. Jose Mourinho’s Real Madrid will take on Manolo Gonzalez’s Espanyol at the RCD stadium on Saturday. Gonzalez has already started his fourth season with the Catalan club with an emphatic 3-0 win over Levante last weekend. Mourinho pointed out their established routines and dynamics due to having the same coach for the last four years.
Espanyol won promotion back in 2024-25. They finished 14th and 11th in the last two seasons, showing consistency and progress. Last
season, Espanyol’s PPDA of 12.16 sat around the middle of the league, which feels about right if you’ve watched them. They don’t swarm opponents, but they don’t completely disappear into a low block either.
In 2025-26, they created the fourth-fewest big chances in La Liga and ranked 17th for touches inside the opposition area. Even so, they finished 11th for expected goals (xG) and 10th for shots on target. There was never a huge volume of attacks, but there was usually purpose behind them.
Last season, only three teams scored more set-piece goals than Espanyol (14). That’s an enormous return for a side that doesn’t spend much of the game camped around the opposition box.
With Kike Garcia’s departure, that trend may be difficult to preserve. Carlos Romero is another loss after finishing with nine goal contributions from left back. However, Pere Milla and Roberto Fernandez are still here, and the latter is probably going to be Real Madrid’s biggest threat.
Fernandez scored seven goals in LaLiga last season and already has two in the opening game this season. He is a box presence but does not shy away from pressing the two center backs and the goalkeeper if needed.
