Last days before the Derby Game
After enjoying the weekend off, time to spend with the family and disconnect briefly after the Cup in La Palma and the start of some decisive days (Barça, Celta and Girona) , the Espanyol squad has returned this Monday, the day of Sant Esteve (festivity in Catalonia), to training at the Ciudad Deportiva de Sant Adrià. Diego Martínez has designed five sessions to focus on Saturday’s visit to the Camp Nou, in the derby that will close an unsuccessful year for the blue and white entity, a 2022 in which the team has been below its possibilities at a sporting level.
The derby will be one of the matches that closes the day, so Espanyol will already play knowing the results of the other teams located in the lower zone, such as Elche, Cádiz, Sevilla and Celta, who curiously will measure each other, these two Last Friday. The blue and whites, who are only one point above relegation, hope not to finish in those last three positions to say goodbye to 2022 , so they will focus in these five training sessions on preparing well for a derby against a Barça without Robert Lewandowski and who has had less preparation than the parrots by having up to 17 World Cup players.
Waiting to know the evolution of Rubén Sánchez, who has been part of the group for weeks but has not yet played, the main casualty for this match is that of Keidi Bare. The Albanian midfielder, who had to undergo surgery, suffered a torn internal ligament in his right ankle, for which he will remain out for at least three months. His absence disrupts the plans of Diego Martínez, who in recent weeks had given the player ownership along with Vinicius da Souza to better balance the midfield.
The absence of Bare could mean that the Galician coach returns to the defense of five players to counteract the offensive potential and the Barca possession game, a drawing that he already used in Anoeta (2-1). Vicente Moreno already used an identical system the previous year, when Espanyol lost 1-0 in a game that he could win on occasions.