Spanish Glory: An RCD Espanyol Story | Presented by BigJDotCom

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2018-19 EUROPA LEAGUE: ROUND OF 16



Round of 16 Results:
KRC Genk 1:1 (1:1) Olympiakos CFP (Olympiakos CFP advances on away goals)
Olympique Marsaille 0:3 (1:6) Dortmund
Lazio 0:1 (1:3) Villarreal CF
Chelsea 1:2 (4:3) Olympique Lyonnais
Napoli 4:0 (6:2) Fenerbahce
Stade Rennais 0:1 (2:3) Besiktas
Leverkusen 2:1 (3:1) Atalanta
FC Porto 3:3 (5:5) Sporting CP (Sporting CP advances on away goals)

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LA LIGA MATCHDAY 28

vs.

RCD ESPANYOL 2:5 SEVILLA FC
RCDE Stadium (Capacity: 40,500)


Sean Maguire scores the only goal of the match in the 17th minute.

SCORING:
5' - (SEV) - L. Muriel
8' - (SEV) - E. Banega
15' - (SEV) - A. Silva
28' - (ESP) - L. Baptistao
38' - (ESP) - P. Piatti
70' - (SEV) - A. Silva
88' - (SEV) - Wesley

DISCIPLINE:
33' - (ESP) - L. Lopez (Yellow)
45' - (ESP) - E. Boateng (Yellow)
90' - (ESP) - L. Lopez (Yellow/Red)

3/17/19
Barcelona, ESP (AP) - Espnayol suffered an embarrassing home loss on Sunday afternoon, falling 5-2 to Sevilla FC at RCDE Stadium. Andre Silva scored twice for Sevilla as they completed the double over Espanyol, after winning 3-1 back in November in Seville.

Sevilla FC came out and stunned Espanyol and the capacity crowd, scoring three times in the opening quarter hour to take a 3-nil lead. In the fifth minute, Luis Muriel put a left footed shot into the roof of the goal off of a great feed from Quincy Promes. Just three minutes later, Ever Banega curled one into the top corner off the post to put Sevilla up by two. Then in the 15th minute, Andre Silva had a rebound off of the post sit right in the six yard box for him to tap home and it was 3-nil.

Espanyol would finally settle down, and they actually got two back before the break. Leo Baptistao dribbled into the box, tried to cross the ball, but it got headed back to him, and he calmly rolled it past Tomas Vaclik with his left foot to get Espanyol on the board.

In the 38th minute, Emmanuel Boateng dribbled to the touch line, then passed to Pablo Piatti charging in, and he roofed it to bring Espanyol back to within one. Sevilla FC outshot Espanyol 11-3 in the opening half and dominated play, but held just the slim margin at halftime.

Espanyol had a couple of great chances to equalize in the second half. Emmanuel Boateng got free in the 54th minute, but Tomas Vaclik made an incredible save, deflecting the ball just wide. Just moments later, Pablo Piatti headed the corner just wide of the far post to keep it 3-2.

Sevilla would put this one to bed in the 70th minute. Andre Silva took a pass from Luis Muriel at the top of the box, and drilled it into the top corner to make it 4-2. Wesley would put a cap on this one in the 88th minute to make it 5-2 Sevilla.

The visitors outshot Espanyol 23-8 and the final scored was indicative of how one sided this match was. Sevilla, fighting to avoid relegation, came through with full points to improve to (9-6-13, 33 pts) and move up to 12th position.

Espanyol's loss dropped them to (11-7-10, 40 pts). They remain tied with Celta Vigo for the 7th spot and likely final Europa League berth. They now have just one win in their last five matches. and just two in their last eight. The task at hand does not get any easier as they head across town for the Barcelona Derby on Saturday at Camp Nou against FC Barcelona (17-5-6, 56 pts), who sit in fourth position, the final Champions League spot.

Midweek Results:
Getafe 2:2 Alaves

Matchday 28 Results:
Athletic Bolbao 0:0 Atletico Madrid
SD Eibar 1:1 Real Valladolid
Huesca 1:1 Alaves
Leganes 1:0 Girona
Real Sociedad 2:1 Levante
Real Madrid 3:! Celta Vigo
Valencia CF 1:0 Getafe
Villarreal CF 3:0 Rayo Vallecano
Real Betis 2:2 FC Barcelona

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2018-19 EUROPA LEAGUE: QUARTERFINAL DRAW



Quarterfinal Draw:
Villarreal CF vs. Chelsea
Leverkusen vs. Dortmund
Sporting CP vs. Napoli
Besiktas vs. Olympiakos CFP

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2018-19 CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: QUARTERFINAL DRAW



Quarterfinal Draw:
Manchester City vs. PSG
FC Barcelona vs. Roma
Juventus vs. FC Bayern Munchen
AS Monaco vs. Liverpool

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LA LIGA MATCHDAY 29

vs.

FC BARCELONA 4:0 RCD ESPANYOL
Camp Nou (Capacity: 99,354)


Luis Suarez and rival FC Barcelona dominated Espanyol.

SCORING:
42' - (FCB) - S. Busquets
64' - (FCB) - L. Suarez
79' - (FCB) - L. Messi
82' - (FCB) - L. Messi

DISCIPLINE:
37' - (ESP) - C. Alena (Yellow)
51' - (FCB) - S. Busquets (Yellow)

3/23/19
Barcelona, ESP (AP) - Espanyol played well for about 40 minutes against their arch rival FC Barcelona at Camp Nou. Unfortunately, the match is 90 minutes and FCB pulled away in the second half as they trounced Espanyol 4-nil on a rainy afternoon.

Barcelona would finally unlock the Espanyol defense in the 42nd minute when Luis Suarez sent in a cross that Roberto Rosales tried to head away. Unfortunately for him it went right to the feet of Sergio Busquets, who one-timed it past Edu Frias, who had no chance. Barcelona dominated the opening half, outshooting Espanyol 9-1, but holding the slim 1-nil lead.

RCD Espanyol would get a couple of great chances to equalize. In the 57th minute, Thiago tried to head away a corner, but it went right to Victor Sanchez. But his volley was parried away by Marc-Andre ter Stegan. On the ensuing corner, Victor Sanchez got up, but his header sailed just wide of the far post.

Minutes later, Luis Suarez made them pay, volleying one past a helpless Edu Frias to make it 2-nil. It was his league leading 13th goal on the campaign. Lionel Messi then got involved, cracking a left footed shot from outside the area past Frias in the 79th minute, and then slipping another left footed shot past Frias after a gorgeous give and go from Luis Suarez in the 82nd minute, to make it 4-nil. Messi now has eight goals on the season with three coming against Espanyol.

Lionel Messi earned Man of the Match honors as Barcelona outshot their rivals 19-5. Espanyol had no shots on target. Barcelona's dominance over their rival continues in 2019, winning both matches by a combined 6-nil.

Espanyol (11-7-11, 40 pts) has now slipped to ninth position, tied with Celta Vigo and one point back of Real Sociedad for seventh. Barcelona (18-5-6, 59 pts) remains in fourth, six points back of Real Madrid, who sit atop La Liga after 29 match days.

Espanyol will head home for a big match against Getafe CF (6-11-12, 29 pts) next Wednesday. They start a crucial five match stretch against teams that they are tied with or who sit below them in the table that they need to earn full points from.

Matchday 29 Results:
Sevilla 1:2 Valencia CF
Real Valladolid 0:3 Real Sociedad
Celta Vigo 1:2 Villarreal CF
Getafe 1:1 Leganes
Levante 1:2 SD Eibar
Real Madrid 3:1 SD Huesca
Rayo Vallecano 0:1 Real Betis
Alaves 0:1 Atletico Madrid
Girona 0:2 Athletic Bilbao

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LA LIGA MATCHDAY 30

vs.

RCD ESPANYOL 3:1 GETAFE CF
RCDE Stadium (Capacity: 40,500)


Carles Alena's brace helps Espanyol snap out of funk.

SCORING:
34' - (ESP) - P. Piatti
55' - (ESP) - C. Alena
59' - (GET) - Angel
80' - (ESP) - C. Alena

DISCIPLINE:
NONE

4/3/19
Barcelona, ESP (AP) - RCD Espanyol has been in a funk for the last two months. On Wednesday evening, they seemed to snap out of it as they defeated Getafe CF 3-1 in front of a sold out crowd at RCDE Stadium. Phenom Carles Alena led the way with two goals as he earned Man of the Match honors as Espanyol won for just the third time in 11 matches.

The visitors had the best chance early on to take the lead as Angel volleyed a ball just wide of the near post in the 17th minute. Emmanuel Boateng then used his speed to split the Getafe CF defense in the 33rd minute, but his shot was blocked just wide by keeper David Soria. On the ensuing corner kick, Pablo Piatti had the rebound, off of an Emmanuel Boateng shot, fall to his feet and he made no mistakes, putting it home to give Espanyol a much needed 1-nil lead.

In the opening moments of the second half, Espanyol's young keeper was tested as he made a great stop on Carlos Soler from in close to keep Espanyol in front. Sergi Darder then setup Carles Alena beautifully just outside the six yard box and he slipped it home to give Espanyol a 2-nil advantge in the 55th minute.

Getafe would get one back minutes later as Carlos Soler sent a long pass towards the Espanyol box. Angel made a great run and one-timed a rocket into the top left corner past a diving Edu Frias to pull Getafe back to within one.

Mario Hermosa had a chance to increase Espanyol's advantage in the 76th minute, as he picked up a rebound just outside the six and missed badly, hitting the side netting from close range. But minutes later it was Carles Alena again. This time Emmanuel Boateng made a beautiful pass in open space to spring Alena in and his left footed shot deflected in off the keeper and the underside of the bar to make it 3-1.

Alena was named Man of the Match with his two goals, but Emmanuel Boateng was just as good, picking up two assists in the win. Getafe (6-11-14, 29 pts) ended up outshooting Espanyol 12-10, but most of their eight targeted shots were easily handled by Frias.

Espanyol (12-7-11, 43 pts) remains in ninth position, tied with Celta Vigo for 8th, and trailing seventh place Real Sociedad by a single point as all three teams won on Wednesday evening. Espanyol will travel to Girona FC (9-10-11, 37 pts) on Sunday afternoon in another match where three points is necessary with only eight match days left in the 2018-19 campaign.

Matchday 30 Results:
Athletic Bilbao 3:0 Levante
Atletico Madrid 2:0 Girona
SD Eibar 1:1 Rayo Vallecano
Leganes 2:1 Real Valladolid
Sevilla 1:1 Alaves
Villarreal CF 0:1 FC Barcelona
Real Sociedad 2:0 Real Betis
Huesca 0:1 Celta Vigo
Valencia CF 1:2 Real Madrid

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A look at La Liga 1|2|3 through 33 matchdays had RC Deportivo and Malaga CF holding the top two spots at 80 and 76 points. UD Las Palmas sits comfortably in third with 75 points. The other three playoff spots are held by Granada CF (61 pts), CA Osasuna (60 pts) and Real Sporting (56 pts). CD Lugo and Real Oviedo are still within shouting distance with just nine matches remaining.

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LA LIGA MATCHDAY 31

vs.

GIRONA FC 1:3 RCD ESPANYOL
Estadio de Montilivi (Capacity: 13,450)


Pablo Piatti scored twice as Espanyol picked up a big three points.

SCORING:
24' - (ESP) - P. Piatti
48' - (ESP) - P. Piatti
82' - (ESP) - S. Darder
90'+ - (GIR) - A. Granell

DISCIPLINE:
7' - (GIR) - J. Ramalho (Red)
45' - (GIR) - V. Fischer (Yellow)
66' - (GIR) - B. Garcia (Yellow)
72' - (ESP) - L. Lopez (Yellow)

4/7/19
Girona, ESP (AP) - RCD Espanyol put together a solid 90 minutes of football on Sunday afternoon and they came away with a 3-1 victory over new regional rival Girona. Pablo Piatti scored twice to help pace Espanyol to their second straight win as the campaign winds down and every point is critical.

Carlos Alena had a great chance to put Espanyol in front in the opening minutes as he split the Girona defense, but he got tripped from behind in the box by Jonas Ramalho resulting in a red card as well as a penalty (a complete surprise in FIFA 19). Carles Alena stepped up and struck it low and left but Yassine Bounou guessed correctly and got a hand on it to knock it wide and keep the match scoreless.

It would remain that way until the 24th minute as Estaban Granero dribbled down the left side of the box, he passed it across teh front of the goal, where an unmarked Pablo Piatti tapped it in to put Espanyol up 1-nil.

Emmanuel Boateng had a chance to increase that lead in the 28th minute but he drilled a right footed kick off of the top of the crossbar. Newly promoted 17-year-old Mario Diaz would score in the 35th minute on a nifty pass from Sergi Darder, but the play was called offside. Diaz would bend a beautiful free kick into the box in the 45th minute, that Carles Alena got on the end of, but he headed the ball just wide of the far post.

Espanyol would extend their lead to 2-nil in the 48th minute as Roberto Rosales sent a perfect cross that Pablo Piatti volleyed past a helpless Yassine Bounou. They would make it 3-nil in the 82nd minute when Mario DIaz rolled a ball into the box that charging Sergi Darder buried.

Girona would get a late marker by Alex Granell but it was too little, too late.

Espanyol (13-7-11, 46pts) won their second straight game and swept Girona, winning 2-1 at home back in November. Girona (9-10-12, 37 pts) remains in 11th place and is staring a mid-table finish in their second season in La Liga.

Up next for Espanyol is a home match against Deportivo Alaves (8-11-12, 35 pts) next Sunday afternoon. Espanyol trails seventh place Real Sociedad by a point, and are five points back of Villarreal.

Matchday 31 Results:
Getafe 0:1 Athletic Bilbao
Real Valladolid 1:0 Sevilla
Levante 1:1 Huesca
Real Madrid 3:0 SD Eibar
FC Barcelona 2:2 Atletico Madrid
Rayo Vallecano 1:1 Valencia CF
Celta Vigo 0:1 Real Sociedad
Real Betis 2:1 Villarreal CF
Alaves 1:1 CD Leganes