18 points from 18, Espanyol have recieved a bye to the second round of the youth cup where they will face either Arsenal or Leicester. The Spanish side comfortably progressed from their group, but will need to be at their very best if they are to progress further.

The team has got stronger as the competition has progressed with rating increases for Hartman (+8), Martel (+1) Sangante (+2), whilst the capture of GK Nescheret (82) defender Pacho (87) and Ramsey (87) increased the teams first 11 AV rating. With updates now in full swing and a number of the squad due to rise the team could possibly have a stronger look to it by the time their second round fixture comes.

"We are happy with the progress the squad is making, we've currently 19 players rated 80 or above currently eligible for this seasons competition of which only 3 can't play in next seasons competition. This allows us to play a number of different formations without weakening the overall side. We are in the bottom half of the draw which is arguably the harder path to the final, especially when we consider that our next game could be against last seasons semi finalist who boast the likes of Martinelli and Caicedo as just a couple of players that jump off the paper. Arsenal are equally no push-overs and historically are strong in all cup competitions. In general there are some very strong sides in the competition, which in some cases have been further strengthened by loaning in the best players from teams who did not enter, something I think the organisers should look at going forwards, given the squad cap of 50 should be adequate enough for teams to a) Firstly enter b) to not require additional resources from other teams. If they do, I don't personally think that teams who don't enter should be allowed to loan players out for the purpose of this competition".

With Espanyol guaranteed to progress to the next stage of the youth cup with 5 wins from 5, the manager is happy to not thrust his teenage sensations into action.

Eliesse Ben Seghir at just 18 burst onto the scene in France late last year and already has a transfermkt vaiue of £18 million, his value is expected to rise again this month given his performances and stats.

This past weekend Arda Guler starred as Fenerbache won the Turkish cup. Also just 18 and not 19 until next year, Newcastle United are trying to bring him to England. With a transfermkt value of £15 million after another £4 million increase this week, the talented attacking midfielder dubbed the Turkish Messi has his suitors in top 100.

Alvaro Rodriguez 18 has broken on the scene at Real Madrid this season, so much so they blocked him going to the under 20 world cup in which he is Uruguays star man. Despite his absence, Uruguay won the world cup last night with another Espanyol man 19 year old Luciano Rodriguez grabbing the winner against Italy. Luciano is being chased by Barcelona and Real madrid, and his stock would of risen further after last nights heroics.

The teenage theme don't quite end with this quartet, as Liverpools Kaide Gordon 18, Argentinian star Julian Fernandez, Santos break out star Wessley Patati 19, French star El Arouch, Englands Adam Wharton, German striker Keke Topp, Croatian Roko Simic are all notable players playing first team football and representing their countries.

"We've a pool of teenage talent, who are making notable contributions in world football. We wanted a conveyor belt affect at this club. Last seasons youth team who reached the final, some are now in the first team. This seasons youth team also has players now getting some first team action. The natural progression will be these teenage stars, who could become not only part of a dominant youth team, but have the all the signs of being some of the games top players. We continue to scout wide and far with a growing shortlist. This has meant we've had to sell a few for cash, with Nanasi and Sasaki two examples of that this season, where we reluctantly let them go despite the signs they could be really good players."

Espanyol have made a shock swoop to secure french under 21 international Kalimuendo from Juventus. The french star has been tracked for 12 months, however bids and messages were ignored by the previous Juve regime.

Its not been cheap though, with Espanyol surprisingly agreeing to let teenage Brazilan hot shot Leonardo head to turin.

"This was a really difficult decision and one we took advice on. Centre forwards with true potential are so hard to find and in Leonardo we strongly believe we had one who could be the real deal. Kalimuendo though is playing in a strong French league and continues to show progression. Although 18 months older, his versatility is what swung it in the end. We've Broja, Ben Seghir, Elanga, Christensen, Simic, Hansen, Nanasi and Turco all youth strikers on the books and having a wide forward who can compliment them was our thinking"

Meanwhile Espanyol have also moved to grab free agent Wessley Patati, a player the manager has monitored for 18 months. The Santos star has a current 100 million £ release clause and had started the season well with 7 goals in 7 games for Santos famous under 20 team. The likes of Real Madrid and Manchester City have this talented player on their radar.

"We've had to be patient to secure Palati, we needed squad space, and there was always a risk someome would get wind and steal from under our noses. South America and in particular Brazil continues to be a hot spot for us, given the research and effort we put in into watching games and scouting out there. We have another two or three on our radar but like Palati we will need to be patient and await the squad space opening up"

Espanyol 2 v 0 Genoa.The Espanyol fans flocked to the RCDE Stadium, to see their hero's first home game of the season back in Division 1.

In what has been dubbed in most quarters as "mission impossible", this seasons Espanyol find themselves in Division 1 , three seasons too early. The current side is ranked 52 out of 100, having taken the route to build for the long term, but despite their lowly rating the team has continued to defy the odds, which included promotion last season which was not envisaged by the stats until the end of season 23.

Espanyol went into the game without their highest rated player, Di Maria who is still recovering from a broken arm and had decisions to make across the team on who would get the nod.

Last seasons Youth cup engine room hero Stiller, who is also expected to be this seasons youth cup kingpin, was brought in, to start the match ahead of close season signings Ilic and Vieira. Whilst Smith-Rowe, and Almada made up a very young central midfield. With Di Maria out, Swedish wide player Karlsson was chosen ahead of Silas and Elanga, whilst at the back D'ambrosio surprisingly kept his place at rightback ahead of Kristensen.

Genoa have a team of stars and their ratings at kick off dwarfed that of the spanish side.In a end to end first half both sides had chances, with Karlsson, Ibrahimovic and Stiller testing Navas for Espanyol, whilst Genoa's Gouri and Gravenbach both going close on a couple of occassions. Neither side could find a breakthrough though as they went in at halftime goalless.

Espanyol were quick out the traps in the second half and veteran forward Ibrahimovic found Eric Garcia, and the Spanish centre back curled a sublime shot past Navas to silence the away support. Espanyol then pushed for a second and in the 64th minute man of the match Otavio found Karlsson whose low shot found its way past Navas to give the homeside a deserved 2-0 lead. Genoa didn't really recover from that moment on and the homeside limited them to brief moments with some excellent game management.

"It was nice to win the game, keep a clean sheet and give our fans something to cherish. Since i arrived, we've continually punched above our weight and defied the odds. We hear the term "building" thrown around a lot. However our ethos has always been the same, try and win games and be successful on the pitch each season. Yes we have been building the long term foundations, however we continue to overachieve each season with tonight another typical example of "Project Espanyol" . We are under no illusions where are team currently sits, but know that we now have the squad which will improve season upon season with the personnel we have already in the building. We will have some tough nights this season, so its important we celebrate the nice results when we get them, as its a snippet of what will be achieved long term"

Newly promoted Espanyol go into the new season as relegation favourites in Division 1, after their play off success last season. There is no pressure on the spanish side with their stats some way below that of all their division 1 rivals.

Its been an intriguing 3.5 seasons at the helm for the manager. The team has achieved a 6th place finish in division 1, a European Trophy, and despite suffering a relegation in their free season, the club bounced straight back to claim promotion and another free season, and this was achieved 3 seasons ahead of target, with reaching the play offs only predicted at the end of season 22, with promotion likely only in season 23.

Twice in 3 seasons the manager has made the short list for the manager of the season, whilst his young side is starting to look very exciting for the future.

"Its fair to say we have arrived in Division 1, three seasons ahead of target and with that comes the downside of us being significantly lower rated than the rest. Being in division 1 will not change a single thing for us, we've been building the foundations for long term success and are pretty much there now in terms of the squad which will take us forward for many years to come.

We had only one option when I arrived, the squad was old, lacking any depth and ranked 14th in division 1. There was no chance we could just sit on players 34, 35, 36 years old, or we'd of dropped down through the divisions with little hope of a sustainable team for the future. Its took a lot of time and effort to go from a squad of no hope, to a squad of serious young talent who we take daily messages for from the bigger clubs to try and tempt us to sell. We won't be doing that, we've set our stall out to be a team where the squad grows together so one day it becomes a serious top 4 side in division 1, and I believe time will show that those stars are already sat in Espanyol's ranks to make that dream a reality.

We will once again enter the youth cup this season, with the knowledge that 8 of this teams youth cup best 11, will also qualify play in season 22's and in many cases also season 23 and 24. We are also purring at the fact thet the likes of Fernandez, Ben Seghir, Guler, Gordon, Chaibi, and Simic are not even in consideration for the youth team yet, which demonstrates the strength of our young players, whilst showcasing the work we've put in over a sustainable amount of time to put our club very much on the list to keep an eye on as seasons progress.

Hidden deeper within those youth players are Turco, Christensen, El Arouch, Pedrola and Rankine, players who are quietly going under the radar but are expected to break out during 2023-24.

Whilst rebuilding the youth set up, we have also brought in some excellent young players into the first team, Ilic, Vieira, Garcia, Vivian Smith-Rowe, Almada, Stiller and Hickey will all play a significant part this season, whilst youth team strikers Broja, Elanga and Leonardo are all expected to play a large amount of first team games learning from the legend that is Ibrahimovic.

Although relegation is somewhat guaranteed, and if anything welcomed at this stage of our squad development we feel that a return to division 1 football for season 24 as a team who can then stay there is the long term plan. This squad is going to be allowed to grow, we have no need to sell anyone, whilst right now our only focus on recruitment is external youths who can be added to the squad. We plan to sign 5 of these over the season to take our squad back up to 50 in which we have a strong shortlist of players both on the database and also ones likely to be added."

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The Celebrations will go on long into the night as Espanyol beat Bayer Leverkeusen 4-2 on penalties after the teams drew 1-1.

Ronaldo got the equaliser in normal time, before Otavio stepped up and smashed home the winning penalty to send Espanyol back to division 1 at the first time of asking.

With the team also reaching the youth cup final this season, it tops off a remarkable journey for the side who were ranked 13th best in the division before a ball was kicked.

At the halfway stage of the season the club was 17th, however the second half of the season saw the team storm up the table to finish 4th and grab a place in the play offs.

"We had not planned on promotion, we've let big stars go in the last week, but showed our fight to the end. Our build has always been a about long term success and the foundations are clearly there. We are under no illusions , next season is going to be a slog, but we believe in what we are doing and are looking forwards to seeing this team grow. We look at those idiots down the road Levante who have suffered back to back relegations with all their eggs in the youth team basket. We will start next season 2 divisions higher, but with the comfort we also made the youth cup final and showed why he will continue to be a shit manager, and why their supporters continue to leave in their 1000's due to the pain and embrassment he has bestowed on that club. We have a free season next season and will likely come back down as we are ahead of schedule. However this team is looking tasty in the youth department. We've some of the best young players in the world, and at some point we are going to be a team fighting at the higher reaches of division 1"