Espanyol take on the visitors Rayo Vallecano in the round 2 match of Spanish LaLiga. The match will be played on Friday, August 19th at RCDE Stadium (Cornella de Llobregat).
Espanyol in previous years gave its fans diametrical emotions. On the one hand, it turned out to finally return to European competition. On the other hand, they didn’t pull the fight on 2 fronts, and for trying to realize their ambitions in the Europa League, the “parrots” paid off with a relegation to the Segunda. True, they did not stay there, returning a year later. So far, they managed to finish only in 14th place, but, most importantly, there was no real threat of relegation. Now the wards of Diego Martinez Penas have a goal to continue the rise. And for this, several interesting transfers were made in Catalonia in the summer. It was the newcomers who allowed to avoid defeat in the 1st round in Vigo. Celta were leading 2-0, but first Exposito, the most expensive acquisition of the off-season, closed the gap. And in the 8th added minute, Joselu, who moved from Alaves as a free agent, brought a draw.
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Rayo Vallecano returned to La Liga last summer. Moreover, the “bees” were only 6th in the Segunda, but won the play-offs. Perhaps the underestimation on the part of opponents helped this Spanish "football lift" start well. Until the very end of the calendar year 2021, the Madrid project was among the leaders. But then the giants woke up, and the newcomer threw all his strength and attention on the cup, practically ceasing to win in the liga. As a result, they lost in the Copa in the semi-finals, and slipped to 12th place in the championship. But, of course, it was much better than predicted in the offseason. Now Rayo, which was strengthened only by loaning and signing free agents, is also skeptical. But the underdog surprises again: the new tempo began with what happened in Catalonia to hold back Barcelona, playing with them in a goalless draw. Yes, Lewandowski and company had a clear advantage, but what's the point if no goals were scored?
This is a confrontation between the capital and Catalonia, albeit not nearly as principled and hot as El Clasico. However, the struggle did not work out: Rayo Vallecano turned out to be stronger in head-to-heads four times in a row. Bookmakers believe that Espanyol has a good chance of finally winning. But Rayo showed during the last visit to the same city that he is good in defense. So let's stop at "under 2.5 goals".
Prediction for the match: Under 2.5 scored goals.
