Vinícius targets Espanyol as Mourinho's unbeaten run awaits
Real Madrid finally step into their LaLiga season on Saturday night, and one man arrives at the RCDE Stadium with a familiar target in his sights: Espanyol.
Their opener against Real Sociedad was postponed, so this second-round fixture becomes Madrid’s first real taste of the campaign. It comes with a striking subplot. Vinícius Júnior likes this opponent. A lot.
Vinícius’ favourite hunting ground
Opta’s numbers tell the story. The Brazilian has scored 5 goals in 11 LaLiga games against Espanyol. Three of those have come away from home, across six visits to the RCDE Stadium, where tonight’s clash will be played.
No side in the competition has conceded more away goals to Vinícius. He has also scored 3 goals at three other grounds, but Espanyol stand alone in terms of how often he has punished them on their own patch.
He arrives “brimming with confidence” is the cliché, but in this case the evidence backs it up. A proven record against a familiar defence, a stadium he knows, and a coach on the touchline who has never lost to this club in LaLiga.
Roberto Fernández hits form at the right time
Espanyol, though, have a striker with his own story to tell.
Roberto Fernández has suddenly found his range. He has scored 3 goals in his last two LaLiga matches, one more than he managed in his previous 22 appearances in the competition. That burst includes his second league brace, delivered in the last round against Levante.
For a forward, timing matters. Roberto comes into a meeting with Real Madrid finally feeling decisive, finally carrying numbers that match his workload. If Espanyol are to disrupt Madrid’s start, he looks the likeliest man to trouble them.
Mourinho’s perfect record on the line
On the opposite bench, history leans heavily towards the visitors.
José Mourinho has never lost to Espanyol in LaLiga from his first spell in charge of Real Madrid. Six games, four wins, two draws. Against no other opponent in the competition has he gone unbeaten across so many matches, though he has also reached six without defeat against five other sides.
It is the kind of streak Mourinho relishes: a clean line of control over a specific rival, a reference point he can tap into in the dressing room. For Espanyol, it is another psychological weight to carry into an already demanding fixture.
González fighting the trend
Manolo González knows the other side of that equation.
The Espanyol coach has lost 3 of his 4 LaLiga meetings with Real Madrid, winning just once. Only Barcelona and Villarreal have beaten him more often in the competition, with 4 defeats each. Real Betis, like Madrid, have also put three losses on his record.
Those numbers frame the challenge. González stands opposite a coach who has never slipped against Espanyol in the league, while his own history against Madrid is stacked with setbacks.
So the stage is clear: Vinícius chasing another goal at one of his favourite venues, Roberto Fernández trying to extend a rare hot streak, Mourinho protecting a perfect record, and González searching for a way to flip a script that has so often gone against him.
Something has to give.
