With a swing of his leg, Samuel Lino condemned Espanyol to relegation. Having fought back so bravely from 3-0 down against Atleti in midweek to claim a draw, and having then gone 2-1 up having again been behind at Mestalla, Espanyol refused to go up. But as Lino’s strike beat Fernando Pacheco, it seemed to be one minute of injury time too many for this bedraggled Espanyol team.
The truth is that Espanyol should be in a much better position. If this were FIFA, Football Manager or simply decided on paper, you’d be expecting to see this squad somewhere in midtable rather than relegated with one game still to play.
Take a look at their front line. Not since 2016/17 have Espanyol had two forwards scoring a double-digit number of goals, but in Joselu and Martin Braithwaite, that’s exactly what the Pericos have this season. The former has been linked with Real Madrid while the latter came from Barcelona, further underlining the calibre of player in this squad.
In particular, Joselu is third behind only Karim Benzema and Robert Lewandowski in the goalscoring standings in LaLiga.
On top of that, we can’t forget that Espanyol started the season with Raúl de Tomás among their ranks. A rift saw him forced out by mid-September without kicking a ball in blue and white colours this season. “It makes me sad to see the farewell you are giving to a player who has made history in this club in two and a half years,” he said una statement. It’s hard to argue with 45 goals in 89 games.
One player cannot guarantee you survival, but the midfield was just as talented. There’s no clearer demonstration of that than the fact that Edu Expósito, who looked a class above at Eibar before moving to Cornellá in the summer, has struggled to get in the team.
Sergi Darder is one of LaLiga‘s most talented players outside the top four. His creativity and vision is one of the principal reasons behind Espanyol scoring more than any other side in the bottom half.
Beyond even his skill, Denis Suárez arrived in January and will be playing in Europe for Villarreal next season. Javi Puado is a Spanish youth international.
Even in defence, there have been reasons for hope. Full-back Brian Oliván joined on a free from Mallorca and has recorded more assists than any other LaLiga defender this season. Leandro Cabrera may not be at his imperious best, but was once the lynchpin of EuroGeta and still had that nous.
But their season and their squad is full of fatal flaws. In goal, only Celta Vigo have had a lower percentage of shots turn into goals, with 34.3% of shots against Espanyol being converted. Benjamin LeComte was signed on loan after failing to make an appearance as Atleti’s second choice goalkeeper on loan last season and last almost no time at all, while Álvaro Fernández looked like a fish out of water just as he did as Huesca were relegated two years before. Fernando Pacheco’s arrival on deadline day in January found a solution, but it was too little too late, and a veteran who had been warming the Almería bench ever since relegation with Alavés.
Many had hoped that young player would push on this year, with Óscar Gil, Adrià Pedrosa, Keidi Bare and Nico Ribaudo ripped to provide a spine for the next generation. But they have failed to do so. The only one to truly be first choice now is Gil, and while Espanyol fans may not have liked it, Jordi Alba and the Barça bench were laughing and joking about his level of performance for a reason.
And so the blame game begins. Diego Martínez was appointed fresh from a sabbatical year after achieving the impossible with Granada, but never clicked in Catalonia. He was tested by the squad put together by Rufete, the club’s sporting director with a big reputation. Yet still, nobody could have foreseen quite how badly this season would go for Espanyol.
And, in part, that is the problem. Many Pericos felt that Vicente Moreno, the man who kept them up last season, was too conservative, too reserved and too low profile for a club of their stature and a squad of such talent. Now coach of Al Shabab in Saudi Arabia, you might just wonder what went through his mind when he saw that Samuel Lino had found that last gasp equaliser.