The Espanyol Sentinel
Squad27 Dec 2027
Leandro Cabrera in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Espanyol this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match25 Dec 2027
Espanyol come up short against Sevilla
Sevilla left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Player ratings27 Dec 2027
A masterclass from Antoniu Roca
Marked 8.16 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
Squad27 Dec 2027
Espanyol count the cost of losing Luken Gallardo
21 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
The dugout27 Dec 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 1‑2 Marc Gallardo left the room before anybody could ask which.
The dugout27 Dec 2027
Omar El Hilali has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Espanyol will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
The dugout27 Dec 2027
Lautaro De León gets it from the manager
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The terraces27 Dec 2027
Everybody has an opinion about Ionuţ Radu
He is the name in every column and on every phone-in, which is a heavy thing to carry at any age. Some footballers thrive on it; others are quietly finished by it.
Squad27 Dec 2027
Antoniu Roca is off the mark for Espanyol
The first one is the one every signing is asked about until it arrives. It has arrived, and he can stop being asked.
In brief
- Market Omar El Hilali linked with a move away
- The dugout A door opens for Javi Puado
- Player ratings Nobody could get near Javi Puado