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1-0: Honorable defeat

Espanyol had the chance to take the derby and fought until the end

A derby is a derby, it repeats throughout the week. A derby knows no colors or favorites, it can take place anywhere, between different teams. A derby always has connotations. And more if one team plays the League and the other, the descent. It's really unequal. But you have to overcome that. Rufete spent as many hours as he could, after the game against Leganés, preparing both for the game and recovering the team's morale. A derby is a derby. That's that.

Espanyol came out with a more solid defense block, with more players there, with the idea of minimizing space between the lines as much as possible, whilst having plenty of distance ahead to run. In fact, the first two notable moments in the match were blue and white. Embarba, coming out of his own field, came face to face with Ter Stegen, but the German goalie kicked his shot aside. Shortly after that, in another against, Marc Roca tried to place the ball away from the Espanyol goal, but his shot tripped on Piqué's leg.

Espanyol didn't struggle too much and felt comfortable in the match, only suffering from a fault by Messi that went high and from an attempt to shoot by Luis Suárez'shot that deflected Calero. The first half, on top, ended with a blue and white double event. Dídac started it with a center that was cleared with difficulties between the Espanyol goalkeeper and Piqué and the rejection was forced back to the Catalan side, but his new shot crashed at the base of the post.

The second half began with a show by Munuera Montero (the one who got Bernardo's expulsion in Getafe, but that day he ignored everything he did today). A hard tackle from Ansu Fati to Calero started with a yellow card but they warned him through VAR to change his game, and changed the yellow for a red card. A minute later, the play was repeated more gently, with Pol Lozano and Piqué. Yellow card, VAR review and another red card for the Blue and Whites' youth squad. The same criteria according to the referee. Easy: the two youngest to the dressing room and 10 against 10. But in the next play, everything changed. A defensive rebound inside the area was easy for Luis Suárez and he made sure of 1-0.

Despite everything, Espanyol kept trying. RTD was especially active and tested Ter Stegen's quality with a far shot. Bernardo, in the last moments, was close to achieving a draw; which would have been just reward for the team's effort.