The Lowdown on the derby against Espanyol
After a season without the Barcelona city derby, FC Barcelona take on rivals Espanyol on Sunday, kick off 4.15pm CET, at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys in week 12 of La Liga.
539 days later
The last city derby came on 14 May 2023 at the end of a season in which Espanyol were relegated to the Segunda División for the second time in four years. Barça ran out 4-2 winners away from home that with a brace from Lewandowski and both Balde and Kounde scoring their first ever goals as blaugranes. This season the derby returns after Espanyol bounced back relegation by winning promotion from the second division at the first time of asking, just as they did in the 2020/21 season.
A little bit of history
Hans Gamper sparked a football craze in the city when he founded FC Barcelona in 1899, and within a year a number of other teams had started playing the game too. Originally set up by university students, the ‘Spanish Football Society’ is the only one of those rival clubs that has survived to the present day.
The ‘big two’ of the old Catalan Championship, and who share the oldest rivalry in Spanish football, were founder members of La Liga in 1929. Espanyol have been relegated six times in total over the years, but they have always managed to come straight back up the following year, a trick that they repeated last season.
Espanyol is the club that has appeared in the most editions of La Liga without ever winning the title. But they have won the Copa de Rey four times (twice this century) and twice reached the final of the UEFA Cup/Europe League, on both occasions losing on penalties.
More recent history
FC Barcelona traditionally have the upper hand in the derbi barcelonés. Although Espanyol did win the home leg of the Copa del Rey quarter final in 2018 (but were ultimately beaten 2-1 on aggregate), they have not won a league derby since Iván de la Peña’s famous brace at Spotify Camp Nou in 2009.
In La Liga, Barça are currently on their longest ever unbeaten run against their local rivals, an amazing 26 derbies. In that time, Barça have scored 63 goals, and Espanyol just ten.
Of the last 13 games against Espanyol at home, Barça have won 12 and drawn just once, the last time the side's met at Spotify Camp Nou, Joselu's second half penalty cancelling out Marcos Alonso's first half strike in a 1-1 draw.
Last five meetings
14/05/2023 (LIGA) Espanyol 2 Barça 4 (Lewandowski 2, Balde, Kounde)
31/12/22 (LIGA) Barça 1 (Alonso) Espanyol 1
13/02/22 (LIGA) Espanyol 2 Barça 2 (Pedri. Luuk de Jong)
20/11/21 (LIGA) Barça 1 (Memphis) Espanyol 0
08/07/20 (LIGA) Barça 1 (L Suárez) Espanyol 0
Debuts from the dugout
The coaches from both teams will be facing their first Barcelona city derby. Hansi Flick landed at Barça in the summer and his start as blaugrana coach has been nothing short of sensational with 11 wins in 12 matches in La Liga leaving his side six points clear of nearest rivals Real Madrid. Espanyol boss Manolo González is a former B team coach at the club who took over the first team last season with 12 games of the Segunda División campaign remaining. The Galician guided the club back into the play off places at the end of the season from where they went to defeat Sporting Gijón and Oviedo to reclaim a place in the Spanish top flight.
Barça connections in the Espanyol squad
There are no less than four players with a blaugrana past in Manolo González's current squad. Centre back and captain Sergi Gómez made just one appearance for the Barça first team during his time with the club, however, it was in the first leg of the Spanish Super Cup against Sevilla back in August 2010.
Striker Javi Puado and midfielder Antoniu Roca both had brief spells at FC Barcelona when they were both very young but defender Brian Oliván spent some 12 seasons as a blaugrana before leaving at the age of 19 for Portuguese club Sporting Braga.