Fixtures

Spain Segunda 03/23 20:00 32 Espanyol vs Tenerife - View
Spain Segunda 03/29 19:30 33 Burgos vs Espanyol - View
Spain Segunda 04/07 16:30 34 Espanyol vs Albacete - View
Spain Segunda 04/14 19:00 35 Leganes vs Espanyol - View
Spain Segunda 04/21 19:00 36 Espanyol vs FC Andorra - View
Spain Segunda 04/28 19:00 37 Elche vs Espanyol - View

Results

Spain Segunda 03/17 17:30 31 [15] Real Zaragoza v Espanyol [4] W 0-1
Spain Segunda 03/10 20:00 30 [20] Alcorcon v Espanyol [4] D 1-1
Spain Segunda 03/02 15:15 29 [2] Espanyol v Huesca [16] D 0-0
Spain Segunda 02/24 17:30 28 [2] Eibar v Espanyol [4] W 2-3
Spain Segunda 02/17 20:00 27 [6] Espanyol v Mirandes [14] W 3-0
Spain Segunda 02/10 20:00 26 [11] Racing Santander v Espanyol [4] L 2-0
Spain Segunda 02/04 17:30 25 [7] Espanyol v Levante [9] W 2-1
Spain Segunda 01/28 13:00 24 [15] Eldense v Espanyol [4] L 3-2
Spain Segunda 01/20 17:30 23 [4] Espanyol v Villarreal B [17] W 2-1
Spain Segunda 01/13 20:00 22 [2] Racing Ferrol v Espanyol [7] D 0-0
Spain Copa del Rey 01/06 16:00 5 Espanyol v Getafe L 0-1
Spain Segunda 12/19 20:30 21 [5] Espanyol v Burgos [11] D 3-3

Stats

 TotalHomeAway
Matches played 50 26 24
Wins 20 13 7
Draws 14 8 6
Losses 16 5 11
Goals for 76 46 30
Goals against 68 30 38
Clean sheets 15 10 5
Failed to score 11 5 6

Wikipedia - RCD Espanyol

Real Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona (Catalan: [rəˈjal ˈklub dəpuɾˈtiw əspəˈɲɔl βəɾsəˈlonə]; "Royal Spanish Sports Club of Barcelona"), commonly known as Espanyol, is a Spanish professional sports club based in Barcelona, Spain. They compete in the Segunda División, the second division of the Spanish football league system.

Founded in 1900 in Barcelona, Espanyol currently play their home games at the RCDE Stadium, which holds up to 40,000 spectators. Domestically, Espanyol has won the Copa del Rey four times, most recently in 2006. In international competitions, the club reached the UEFA Cup final in 1988 and 2007. It has a long-standing rivalry with FC Barcelona.

History

Foundation and club culture

Espanyol was founded on 28 October 1900 by Ángel Rodríguez Ruiz (1879–1959), an engineering student at the University of Barcelona. The club's original home was in the well-off district of Sarrià; Espanyol was the first club in Spain to be formed exclusively by Spanish fans of the game, with the other early clubs having links to Britain or central Europe.

Ricardo Zamora with Español

The club originally played in bright yellow shirts, with the colour of the shorts being left to the individual player. A friend of the club founder owned a textile business and happened to have an abundance of yellow material left over from a job. In 1910, the club changed its name to the Club Deportivo Español and chose blue and white stripes as shirt colours and as the central colours of the club badge. Blue and white were chosen in homage to the colours appearing on the shield of the great Sicilian-Aragonese Admiral Roger de Lluria, who sailed the Mediterranean protecting the interests of the Crown of Aragon in the Middle Ages. The club was successful from the very beginning, winning the first Campionat de Catalunya in 1903 and subsequently playing in the very first Copa del Rey in 1903.

In 1906 Club Español de Football had to suspend its activities due to a lack of players, since most of them were university students who enrolled to study at universities outside Catalonia. X Sporting Club took advantage of this as most of the remaining Español players joined them, which meant a big leap in quality for the club, and as a result, the X won the Catalan championship three times in a row between 1905 and 1908, beating the likes of FC Internacional and FC Barcelona for the title. This historic side had the likes of Pedro Gibert, José Irízar and Santiago Massana. It was not until 1909 that X and Español were restructured again, when several of the former university students returned to Barcelona with the idea of refounding Club Español de Football, which they achieved on 27 December 1908, when X merged with the Spanish Jiu-Jitsu Club.

In the 1910s, they won the Campionat de Catalunya three times, in 1911–12, 1914–15 and 1917–18, winning later largely thanks to their backline led by Ricardo Zamora. They also reached the final of the Copa del Rey twice in 1911 and 1915, but lost to Athletic Bilbao on both occasions.

In 1994, Espanyol created its reserve team, Espanyol B, currently playing in the Segunda División B.

Two UEFA Cup finals (1988–2009)

Javier Clemente was hired in 1986. In his first season, he took the team to a joint-best 3rd place, qualifying for the UEFA Cup. They defeated Borussia Mönchengladbach, A.C. Milan, Inter Milan, TJ Vitkovice and Club Brugge KV to reach the final, losing on penalties to Bayer 04 Leverkusen after a 3–3 aggregate draw. Two relegations followed, but the club remained in La Liga from winning the 1993–94 Segunda División until relegated at the conclusion of the 2019-20 COVID pandemic impacted season.

President from 1989 to 1993, Juli Pardo oversaw the transformation of the club into a Sociedad Anónima Deportiva. In the wake of the accumulated debt, the club were forced to sell the Sarrià Stadium, which was eventually demolished in 1997.

Paco Flores' Espanyol won the 2000 Copa del Rey Final 2–1 against Atlético Madrid at Mestalla, a first cup win since 1940. Six years later, under Miguel Ángel Lotina, the club won again, this time 4–1 against Real Zaragoza in Madrid, with goals by Raúl Tamudo, Luis García (two) and Coro.

Chart of RCD Espanyol league performance 1929–2023

With this cup win, Espanyol entered the UEFA Cup. They won all their group games, before dispatching Livorno, Maccabi Haifa, Benfica, and Werder Bremen to reach the final. In the final, held on 16 May at Hampden Park in Glasgow, Espanyol fell to fellow La Liga side Sevilla, losing 3–1 in a shootout following a 2–2 draw. They became the only football team in UEFA Cup history to remain unbeaten in the tournament, yet not take home the trophy. Walter Pandiani, who would leave the club at the end of the season, was the UEFA Cup's top goalscorer that season. On 9 June 2007, Tamudo became Espanyol's highest-ever goalscorer after surpassing the 111 goals scored by Rafael Marañón, and ended the night with 113.

On 31 May 2009, Espanyol played its last match at the Estadio Olímpico de Montjuic, a 3–0 defeat of Málaga. Espanyol had played in the Estadi Olímpic after moving from their previous ground in Sarria. With the move, club talisman Raúl Tamudo had the unique distinction of having played in three different home stadiums with his club: Sarrià, Montjuïc and, beginning in the 2009–10 season, the Cornellà-El Prat.

Recent years (2009–present)

Iván Alonso in action during a La Liga fixture in August 2009

In January 2009, former Espanyol defender Mauricio Pochettino was hired as manager with the club in the relegation zone – his first senior job. He won 2–1 against rivals Barcelona at the Camp Nou in February to help keep the club up; Barcelona, under Pep Guardiola, won the treble that season.

After 12 seasons playing at the Estadi Olímpic de Montjuïc, Espanyol moved to the Estadi de Cornellá-El Prat. The new stadium was officially inaugurated on 2 August 2009 with a match between Espanyol and Liverpool; Espanyol won 3–0, with Luis García scoring the first goal at the ground, followed by a Ben Sahar double. Six days later, Espanyol captain Daniel Jarque died from a cardiac arrest aged 26 in the Florence neighbourhood of Coverciano, where the club was at the time after playing several fixtures in Italy. Since then, in the 21st minute – his former shirt number – of every Espanyol match, an ovation is made in his honour for a full minute.

After Pochettino left in 2012, the club maintained themselves in the top flight under a series of other managers. In January 2016, Chinese businessman Chen Yansheng took over the club by acquiring a 54% stake. In the 2018–19 season, Espanyol finished 7th, thus returning to the Europa League for the first time since their final run in 2006–07. However, the club suffered relegation for the first time since 1994 the following season, after a 1–0 loss at Barcelona. On 3 August 2020 the club published an official statement urging La Liga to suspend relegation; nevertheless relegation was not avoided. Espanyol won promotion back to La Liga at the first attempt on 8 May 2021 following a 0–0 draw against Zaragoza, with four matches to spare in the 42-game season.

Since 2022, Espanyol has achieved a strategic cooperation with LEYU SPORTS. And LEYU became Official Asian Partner of RCDE. On 28 May 2023, Espanyol relegated to the Segunda División after two seasons in La Liga.

Espanyol is a professional soccer team based in Barcelona, Spain. The team was founded in 1900 and has a rich history in Spanish soccer. Espanyol plays in the top tier of Spanish soccer, La Liga, and has a loyal fan base known as "Pericos". The team's home stadium is the RCDE Stadium, which has a capacity of over 40,000 spectators. Espanyol has won several domestic and international titles, including the Copa del Rey, UEFA Cup, and UEFA Intertoto Cup. The team is known for its attacking style of play and has produced several notable players over the years, including Raul Tamudo, Dani Jarque, and Sergio Garcia. Espanyol is a respected and competitive team in Spanish soccer and is always a tough opponent for any team they face.