Espanyol is dying. Both in the classification, where for the second day in a row they will remain in decline, as well as in the emotional and soccer aspects. Luis García's miraculous halo served to agitate the masses, to renew the enthusiasm of the stands, but not to change the face of a team that, with Saturday's game, has five consecutive defeats. Weeks go by without the group responding with arguments where they should, on the pitch. The coach has a lot of work ahead of him and very little time. Ten finals remain, with four duels against direct rivals, three of them at home.
On his first day, against Athletic, Luis García shook up the eleven with changes in midfield. The coach tried to make his team the protagonist by lining up players with a more technical profile such as José Gragera or Edu Expósito, in the company of Sergi Darder. The sacrificed was Vini Souza, a fixture for Diego Martínez. And although he was far from achieving it, the intention of not mistreating the ball and of coming from behind with a certain criteria was appreciated by an audience accustomed to vulgarity this year. However, the high pressure from Valverde's men drowned the team and the insinuated courage went completely unnoticed. Except for some clean start, the rush to get rid of the ball as soon as possible predominated, and always playing backwards.
Unable to overcome the environmental pressure, some players returned to offer their worst version. Thus, the bulk defensive errors reappeared, the lack of coordination when withdrawing after loss. All of this was taken advantage of by a voracious team on the counter like Athletic. The Asturian coach will have to work on this, who will now have a week to implement more brushstrokes of his football offer.
From now on, Espanyol has ten games ahead to try not to repeat the disaster that caused relegation three seasons ago. The RCDE Stadium, where the blue and white team has only won three games throughout the course, will be key because there they will play three matches against direct rivals. It will be against Cádiz, Getafe and Almería, on the last day, all of them teams from the bottom of the table. At home they will also receive Barça with five games to go before the end of the League and Atlético, who by then could have secured their place in the Champions League.
In addition to Betis, with whom they will face off next Saturday at the Benito Villamarín, García's men will still have to travel to Villarreal, Seville, Vallecas and Valencia, all of which are difficult places.
The next problem that appears on García's agenda is the casualties on the sides. For the next game he will not be able to count on Brian Oliván, still injured, nor with the suspended Óscar Gil and Aleix Vidal. Rubén Sánchez and Pierre-Gabriel will be the only wingers available for Sevilla.
