Spanish La Liga weekly round-up – Espanyol
The other Barcelona side Espanyol are the surprise of the Spanish La Liga this season. Last season the Catalan side suffered with a 11th place finish in the Spanish La Liga but this year they are a totally new team under their coach http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Mauricio-c24899 Pochettino.
The Argentinean coach has built the team around the self-made players and has barely made any signings this season. Espanyol are a side who are considered favourites to qualify for the UEFA Champions League next season and the fans expect them to dethrone
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Valencia-c40863 or Villarreal who are also having a great season at the moment.
Espanyols have changed the style of play that they adapted last season. Last year they relied too much on their defensive lines. However, this season their coach has given a new hope and they try to keep most of the possession of the ball. Of course, this
method did fail against the mighty Barcelona who also try to keep possession of the ball. The Spanish Champions faced Espanyol in the Spanish La Liga and both teams of the same city clashed in a derby game. Of course, the 1-5 score line looked to be one-sided
but Espanyol looked to be one of the sides that gave Barcelona the toughest time in the Spanish La Liga.
Josep Guardiola spoke highly of the local city rivals and said that they play extraordinary football and made it difficult for them to score goals. However, later Barca started to score goals and even though the Espanyol striker http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Pablo-Osvaldo-c28996 pulled one
back for his side, it was simply difficult for them to contain Josep Guardiola’s men. The match ended in a 1-5 brawl but that only gave Espanyol confidence to carry on in the Spanish La Liga.
Currently, Espanyol are not playing in any other competition as they faced an early exit in the Copa Del Rey when they faced the Madrid side Atletico Madrid. The competition between the two teams was fierce but Atletico Madrid qualified for the next round
2-1 on aggregate. Now, Espanyol are only concentrating on one competition and that is the Spanish La Liga and they are trying their best to compete at the European level next year and are definitely going to try to beat Villarreal or Valencia in the run to
the UEFA Champions League.
Espanyol faced the bottom of the table side http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Real-Zaragoza-c40344 last week and it was totally a one-sided game as they won the game 4-0 at home. Real Zaragoza definitely had no chance against a team that is fighting so hard in the league. Espanyol managed to make
an example out of Real Zaragoza as they sent out a clear message towards all other teams that they are still in the competition.
Espanyol are now going to be facing Sevilla away from home. Sevilla look to be weak in the league this season but it is definitely going to be tough fixture for them. Sevilla are currently placed 10th in the Spanish La Liga and Espanyol are definitely
going to try and take advantage of their dip in form.
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