He gave his sporting life to Espanyol. Eight years in the first team, divided into two stages, in which he experienced the joys of Europe, but also a relegation. And severe injuries. The football life of David López (Sant Cugat, 1989) harbors many other lives. The penultimate is living in Girona. There he has reconciled with football. He answers the call from La Vanguardia before facing his former team (14 hours), with whom he maintains a thorn in the side.
Do you suffer for Espanyol?
I have always said it, I am very parakeet, very from Espanyol. Although I have changed teams and am a professional, I have that feeling and will always have it. And it hurts me. It's not easy to see in the situation you're in.
Are you still suffering for Espanyol?
I have always said it, I am very parakeet, very from Espanyol. Although I have changed teams and am a professional, I have that feeling and will always have it. And it hurts and it's not easy to see Espanyol in the situation they are in.
Worried he's flirting with relegation?
It surprises me and worries me. It surprises me because they had made many changes, players, coach and sports management with the intention of taking a step forward and it has not been like that, it has even taken a small step back. And it worries me because I know what it's like to go down with Espanyol and I know that it's not easy to go back up. They have not just taken the step forward to place it where it deserves.
You know the blue and white environment and its negativity.
It's partly normal. It is a historic and very big club and the fans have a very big feeling. In Barcelona, being from Espanyol is not easy having a monster like Barça by your side. The fan is from the heart and will be forever. Seeing that things don't end up coming out is frustrating, so I understand the fans. But surely the players are not having a good time, that they will be leaving everything. It gives you the situation of impotence because a club like that, with a budgetary margin, to be fighting in the lower part is maddening.
What is it like facing the team of your life?
It was special, a game full of emotions. Feeling of sadness because I was returning to my home and to the club of my life as a rival. It's complicated but emotional at the same time because I have a lot of people I know at the club and meeting them and the fans again is a very nice part. This time it's against Espanyol, it's a special match, it's complicated because if they come here and lose, things will be very complicated for them, but I have to look after my interests.
Did it bother you how your departure from Espanyol went?
It is an issue that the more time passes and seeing it from a distance hurts me, it bothers me, because I was there for a long time and gave a lot for the club in bad times, and perhaps the ways in which they decided to tell me that they did not count on me and the moments were not adequate. I think I deserved something more. But you have to know how to differentiate what the leaders of that moment are with what the club, the entity and the fans are. But I do have that thorn stuck in it.
Did the lack of confidence frustrate you?
Yes that is frustrating. My last season there I had an injury that hurt me a lot. But already recovered, he was training, physically well and knew that he could give things to Espanyol. The leaders wanted to make a generational change, remove players who were still from the year of relegation and put on new faces. You have to accept it like everything in life, and more so in the world of football.
Did you expect to have so much prominence in Girona?
I arrived in Girona without expectations. It was a very fast move. He had conversations with other top teams and from abroad because it happened quickly. Once I got here I did it without expectations, I knew the intention of the coach and Quique, who would be a player with weight in the squad. But I came to remove that ballast from the last year of Espanyol, from my departure, on an emotional level to be calm and happy, to enjoy family and football and more than looking at numbers and performance.
Has Míchel's attractive proposal been good for you?
Yes, I was very surprised. I had seen games played by Víctor Sánchez last year, especially in the playoffs, and I had seen that it was a team with an attractive game idea, modern and associative football, and I knew that it could fit in very well.
Is enjoying?
Yes, at Espanyol he had accumulated the seasons of the covid, the relegation, the year in second. The one with the injury last year. And he needed that change of scenery and a clean slate. This has helped me for it. And I enjoyed football again and also with the idea that it is attractive for those of us who like football and if you accompany it with results, especially in Montilivi, it makes you enjoy it even more.
You've been through everything, injuries, relegations, promotions, European adventures. How many lives do you have left as a footballer?
Don't know. I debuted in 2010. I have been in the elite for 13 years. If you stop to think it is very complicated. Clubs are betting more and more on young players because it is profitable. I try to enjoy each training session and each game and work and take care of myself physically, eating and resting. I look very good and we'll see what my body can handle.
Are you surprised by the rivalry that exists and continues to grow between Girona and Espanyol?
It is a short rivalry in time. Girona is a historically smaller team, in the First Division it is its third season and it is still the third team in Catalonia. Apart from Barcelona, it is the closest competition that Espanyol has. And over the years the rivalry grows. As long as it is healthy, I think it is very beautiful and fun for the viewer. That expectation is created and that in one day the tickets have run out is something very nice.
