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0-0 draw with Girona in first preseason game

The friendly ends goalless

After medical checkups, fitness tests and 13 training sessions, the RCD Espanyol played their first friendly match of the summer on Saturday morning. The opponents were Girona FC, an old acquaintance and a team who have qualified for the Champions League this coming campaign.

Coach Manolo González was clear that the important thing was to start seeing some evolution in the team's play. Girona began the game with intent and had two good chances that were well dealt with by Pacheco.

Espanyol settled in, perfectly interpreting when to press and when to wait behind the ball. Javi Hernández and Aguado felt comfortable, well supported by Gragera, and generated solid offensive actions, including a shot that came back off the crossbar.

As he had warned ahead of the game, González changed the entire team at the start of the second half, to evenly distribute the minutes amongst the squad. RCD Espanyol continued to be an orderly team, with a sturdy defence and good intentions in attack.
Jofre managed to get into the opposition area with chances to score, but was slow to shoot. Omar came closest, testing Juan Carlos' reflexes.

Fortuño was also able to save a couple of Girona shots that resulted in the game ending a 0-0 stalemate.