Europe, Keeping it real, Leagues, Regions POSTS
Keep it real – Espanyol silence the Camp Nou
Published by Andrew Reilly on February 23, 2009
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A local derby, top versus bottom and the home team are recognised as playing the best style of football in the world at the moment. The Barcelona versus Espanyol game at Camp Nou should only have had one winner but the cliché of form book going out in the window when local rivals clash came true yet again. Barcelona may have played with ten men for almost an hour but the shock defeat has taken many people by surprise and whisper it… perhaps some life is being pumped back into La Liga’s title race. Certainly Real Madrid would have been doubly pleased to hear the score line from Barcelona given that they were comprehensively dismantling Real Betis 6-1 at home, with all seven goals amazingly coming in the first half.
However, Saturday was all about Espanyol and one player, Ivan de la Pena. The Little Buddha has long been viewed one of the great talents of the game who perhaps never achieved everything that he should have done in the game. De La Pena broke into the Barcelona first team in 1995 and hopes were high that his crisp passing and eye for goal would see him dominate the midfield position for years to come. For whatever reason, the player never fulfilled this potential and experienced a nomadic few years playing for Lazio, Marseille and Barcelona on loan again. In 2002, he returned to the city to play for Espanyol and although injuries have blighted his career, De La Pena has at least shown that the expectations placed upon him were not completely unfounded.
It is somewhat ironic that when he broke into the team, De La Pena was considered to be the natural successor to Josep Guardiola and here he was, 14 years later, causing the same man a great level of discomfort with his two goals. It had been four years since De La Pena last scored in the league but his second strike came a mere five minutes later, a vast improvement on timing as he took full advantage of a mistake from Victor Valdez to coolly chip the Catalan goalkeeper.
Even with ten men, Barcelona roared forward and when they pulled a goal back, the Barca fans could have been forgiven for thinking a comeback was on the cards but their lowly neighbours held on and were left to celebrate a historic victory. Espanyol had not won at the home of their city rivals for 27 years and fans of the club, unsurprisingly, have an inferiority complex when viewed in comparison with their city rivals.
The win took Espanyol off the bottom of La Liga but with 21 points from 24 games, the club are still in a lot of trouble. If relegation comes at the end of the season, at least their fans will have the memories of a magical February evening when they gave their more illustrious neighbours a bloody nose. For Barcelona, thoughts now turn to the Champions League with a series of defensive errors bringing some doubt to a team who looked rock solid a few weeks back. It is likely that Barca will still come good in the hunt for honours this season but you get the impression that Espanyol fans will be recalling this victory with fondness for many years to come.
** Photo Credit Nicholas McGowan **
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Nabyl Charania on Mon, 23rd Feb 2009 4:14 pm
De La Pena is a name that I haven’t heard in a while, too bad Espanyol will be relegated come season end. Anything to make the title race in Spain more exciting is welcome…
Ian John on Tue, 24th Feb 2009 10:56 am
De La Pena is a cautionary tale of what could have been. His ill-timed move to Lazio was the beginning of the end. Still, he showed glimpses of what he is capable of and no doubt the two goals tasted very sweet for him. However the sending off of Keita in the first half evened out the teams somewhat.
Hussein Ebrahim on Wed, 25th Feb 2009 5:47 pm
The only reason Barca lost that game was due to the fact that Barca was looking ahead to the mid week game against Lyon. It would be sad if Espanyol gets relegated. I look forward to the Barcelona derby every year! Hope this victory by Espanyol at Barcas expense turns their season around.