Once the euphoria that greeted their survival on the final day of last season had subsided, it didn’t take long for a fresh wave of pessimism to return to the RCDE Stadium.
Espanyol fans would have been bracing themselves for a tough summer. Many would have feared a repeat of the relegation they suffered in their second season back in the top flight in the 2022/23 campaign was on the horizon.
On the surface, they had every reason to be feeling negative. Homegrown goalkeeper Joan Garcia, without whom Espanyol would almost certainly have gone down last term, left to join local rivals Barcelona barely three weeks after their final-weekend victory over Las Palmas.
The €25m buyout clause that sparked the cross-town move felt like a significant undervaluation of his true worth, but it was €10m more than Los Periquitos would have received had they been relegated.
Successful loanees Roberto Fernandez, Urko Gonzalez de Zarate, Carlos Romero, and Marash Kumbulla were set to return to their parent clubs. Meanwhile, long-serving star Javi Puado was out of contract and free to talk to any interested parties.
Smart summer business
Given the weak hand they held heading towards the end of June, Espanyol couldn’t realistically have had a better window.
Of the €25m received for their young goalkeeper, only around €14m was reinvested in terms of transfer fees for new signings. For that, they managed to bring Roberto and Urko back to the club on permanent deals, and also sign promising centre-back Clemens Riedel and back-up midfielder Charles Pickel. Villarreal’s Romero also signed on for another year on loan at the RCDE Stadium.
Espanyol’s recruitment team also made really good use of the free agent market. Marko Dmitrovic arrived as a safe pair of hands in goal to soften the blow of losing Joan Garcia. Kike Garcia, who scored 13 LaLiga goals for Alaves last term, signed for the Catalan club to provide added competition for Roberto up front. Meanwhile, the capture of 23-year-old winger Tyrhys Dolan on a free transfer has also proven to be an inspired piece of business.
Some of those positive moves may also have helped convince Puado to sign a new five-year deal at his boyhood club in July.
The key players who have stepped up
Espanyol’s success so far this season has very much been a team effort. With the possible exception of Romero, who has excelled at left-back and looks set for a big move next summer, there are few outright stars in this squad who would have bigger clubs looking on with genuine interest.
However, Manolo Gonzalez has managed to get the best out of many of his existing players. They’ve been strong at the back, with only Villarreal conceding fewer goals in LaLiga 2025/26. 34-year-old Leandro Cabrera has enjoyed a really solid campaign, alongside either Riedel or Fernando Calero.
Further up the pitch, Pere Milla has scored five goals, while Edu Exposito has chipped in with five assists. Such contributions were entirely unexpected from players who might somewhat dismissively be labelled Spanish football journeymen, despite both also enjoying other purple patches at various points in their careers.
Having relied heavily on Puado for goals in the opening stages of last season, Espanyol’s strike force is also now much superior to what it was 12 months ago. Kike and Roberto have tended to rotate up front, and have chipped in with seven league goals between them so far.
LaLiga’s set-piece masters?
The importance of set-pieces appears to be growing in European football. The likes of Arsenal and Manchester United are already in double figures for set-piece goals in the Premier League this term.
That shift hasn’t been quite as striking in the Spanish top flight, but Espanyol are leading the way in that department. 30% of their goals last season came from set-pieces. This term, they are the joint leaders for set-piece goals (seven) along with Barcelona and Osasuna, while they’ve also scored three penalties.
The most recent of those set-piece strikes saw Cabrera powerfully head home a perfect Exposito corner to seal a 1-0 win at Getafe, which clinched a fourth straight league victory for Manolo’s side. That moved them on to 30 points, with talk of an unlikely European push getting more serious with each passing week.
Why a European challenge is realistic
When unfancied teams are flying high at the top end of LaLiga in the first half of the season, there are often a bunch of underlying metrics that point towards their impending collapse.
Espanyol’s tally of just 10 goals from open play might suggest some kind of blip is likely, but overall, there are reasons to think a European challenge is sustainable.
Surprisingly given their lofty position, Espanyol’s 20-goal return is actually a significant underperformance of their xG total of 23.9. They rank in the top six of LaLiga for xG (fifth), xG Against (fourth fewest), and xG Difference (fifth).
Their current winning streak has come without the services of the injured Puado, whose return is imminent. They do appear to have reasonable depth in most positions, although they would miss the likes of Dmitrovic, Romero, and Cabrera were any of those players to face a significant spell on the sidelines.
European places were awarded to the top eight teams in LaLiga last term. While that number looks likely to reduce to six or seven this year (depending on the winner of the Copa del Rey), Espanyol are already in a really strong position to compete for one of those slots.
They hold a seven-point advantage on Athletic Club in seventh, having played a game less. With the likes of Sevilla and Valencia struggling on and off the pitch, and Real Sociedad currently just one point above the relegation zone, there are few obvious candidates in terms of teams capable of overhauling Manolo’s side in the race for Europe.
Mark is a freelance football writer based in Madrid, and the editor of LaLigaExpert.com. He has been covering LaLiga and European football since 2014.
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