Abelardo’s side sense a ‘turning point’ in their season. It needs to be: no team has survived on fewer than 12 points at halfway
“Maybe I’m a masochist,” Abelardo Fernández had said and maybe that explains everything: it explains why they called and why he came; it might even explain why this could just work. That, at least, is the hope and at least there is hope now. The noise had just about died down, supporters heading home happy, when Espanyol’s new coach appeared, their third in half a season. It was almost midnight, cold outside, and his throat was raw but he was smiling. “You have a bad time of it, you suffer, but you enjoy it,” he admitted, “and I tell them to enjoy it too.” This time, they had. Espanyol are still the worst team in Spain, and by some way, but it’s a new year, a new them.
Before Saturday’s Catalan derby an I Will Survive remix boomed round Cornellà; by the end, some had started to believe they actually might. As the whistle went on a 2-2 draw, another song went round: “Yes, we can!” they chanted. Unable to beat Barcelona in the league in the 2010s, Espanyol had been unable to beat them at the start of 2020 too, but this wasn’t the same. Sometimes a draw feels like a victory. When they’re top and you’re bottom, when you’ve barely even drawn at home all season let alone actually won a game, you’ve blown a lead and you’re losing with two minutes left, is one of those times. When you’re desperate, searching for something, anything, to hold on to definitely is.
Related: Barcelona frustrated by Wu Lei’s late equaliser as Espanyol fight back
Alavés 1-1 Real Betis; Atlético Madrid 2-1 Levante; Celta Vigo 1-1 Osasuna; Espanyol 2-2 Barcelona; Getafe 0-3 Real Madrid; Granada 1-0 Mallorca; Real Sociedad 1-2 Villarreal; Real Valladolid 2-2 Leganés; Sevilla 1-1 Athletic Bilbao; Valencia 1-0 Eibar
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