Espanyol pulled off another shock result as they beat Real Madrid at the Bernabau. Espanyol who came into the game bang in form raced into a 3 nil lead with Suarez getting his first goal for the club, Herrera his first goal since his return and Niguez also finding the net. Suarez also had a goal chalked off for offside, as the away side dominated. Real did get a couple of goals back in the last 15 minutes which coincided with Espanyol taking key players off. It set up a nervy finish, but Espanyol held on to take their unbeaten run to 8 games and with it, move up to 10th.

"We were really on it for the first 75 minutes, creating chances which thankfully we put away. Sadly for us Wijnaldrum has picked up an injury and will miss the next few games. With Bardhi also injured and Firmino still suspended, this puts a strain on the team and limits our options. We play Hertha Berlin next followed by Barcelona, so these injuries couldn't have come at a worse time for us. We've moved 11 points clear of the drop, which gives us some much needed breathing space. Our focus now is trying to finish as high as we can. With a full team, we can cause anyone problems which our results so far this season have shown. We are still waiting to be able to put a full strength side out, since our new arrivals came, so it will be interesting to see how that plays out. We wont make changes for the sake of it, and those playing well will keep the shirts. Its upto the likes of Firmino, Bardhi etc to try and dislodge those doing ever so well. Suarez has started well with two solid games in Firmino's absence, and will continue to lead the line whilst in form"

After registering just 13 points from their first 15 games, Espanyols season has kicked into life recording 15 points from their last 7 games, in which they have remained unbeaten.

In a season which has been built on a solid defence, the goals are starting to go in at the other end.

Tonight Espanyol beat Standard Liege 2-1 with Joe Gomez and Ilicic on debut bagging the goals. Espanyol went into the match without new talisman Firmino who started a 3 match ban, but were able to call on the services of Luis Suarez for the first time since signing, who had a good debut coming up with an assist. The result moved Espanyol to a season high of 12th in the table, 8 points clear of the drop zone.

"we have come out of an awful run of form, which saw us drop into the relegation zone, and are now in the best form since I arrived. We are picking up points against good sides, whilst more importantly getting the important points against the sides we are expected to beat. We continue to turn players over as a trading club, but for the first time since I came we have genuine options up front with Firmino, Suarez and Ilicic capable of leading the line. We've still 38 players aged 27 or under, so have not dropped our objective of lowering the overall age of the squad. We continue to tweek tactically in every match and its paying dividends at the moment. We've some tough games coming up, but we've certainly given ourselves every chance of securing our season objective of 14th. We are still suffering with injuries and suspensions with Rodriguez now added to Firmino and Bardhi in being unavailable. However it gives someone else a chance to come in a stake a claim, and make that shirt their own"

19 games, 21 points and currently sat 17th but with a 4 point cushion to 18th. Its been a strange first half of the season for Espanyol.

After an ok start, away defeats to Manchester City and Porto and home defeats to Benfica and Stoke saw the Spanish side lose four on the bounce finding the net just once and conceding 6 goals in the process. It left the club with just 13 points from 15 games, firmly in the drop zone, and needing an injection of hope from somewhere.

Fast forward four games, and Espanyol have taken 8 points from 12 with credible draws against Bayern Munich and Chelsea, with wins coming against Verona and Levante. In this mini run the club has scored 4 and conceded just 1.

In the domestic cups, Espanyol exited the cup in round 3, with a loss to Benfica. Whilst they faired much worse in the domestic shield exiting in round 1 to lower division opposition in Rubin Kazan. Given the club fielded reserve teams for all these fixtures, then priority was firmly on the league.

Espanyol cruised through their European SMFA shield group winning all 6 games, and qualifying for the next stage.

In total , including league, cup, youth and Europe Espanyol's record stands at.

PLAYED - 31

WON - 14

DRAWN - 7

LOST - 10

GOALS FOR - 45

GOALS AGAINST - 25

CLEAN SHEETS - 16

Espanyols core strength has definately been their ability to keep clean sheets with that being achieved in 51.6% of games.

interestingly the club has averaged scoring 1.45 goals a game, although this is heavily inflated by the clubs great form in Europe. With the league goals to ratio just 0.84 a game.

The team has a season finish target of 14, and have this week completed the signings of Suarez and Firmino both 93 rated, with the hope of increasing the goals for column in the league. Given the team has achieved 21 points in the first half of the season, barring a disaster you would expect the team to improve on that over the second half of the season and retain its division 1 status and get close to achieving this seasons objective of 14th

Espanyol who are very much in transition have moved swiftly in the transfer market to try and stop the slide towards division 2. The club despite being solid at the back have struggled for goals in the league which has resulted in the club dropping into the relegation zone.

Out goings:

Merino 91, Morata 91, Henrique 88, Pino 87, Sancet 85, Sousa 73, Oyarzabal 92, Garcia 84

Incomings

Wijnaldrum 93, Suarez 93, Firmino 93, Herrera 90, , Vlasic 89 Akturkoglu 85, Perraud 86.

"Contractually we are on the brink of the sack. You never want to part with younger players who are going to just keep getting better, but its pointless building for the future if another manager takes your job and benefits from your hard work. We've opted to bring some higher rated players in but also some decent under 25s who have improvement in them. I'm never affraid to gamble, or change direction. We've a lot of young players, who i feel need a little experience around them. Staying in division 1 is our objective and I think we can improve on our position with these signings. We have a few weeks to wait until all deals are completed, but im satisfied with our business"

You would of forgiven the home supporters if they'd headed for the exits before half-time in this all spanish fixture, as Real Madrid raced into a 3-0 lead courtesy of goals from Zielinski, Messi and Correa. It was end to end but Madrid were so clinical in front of goal, that it appeared a heavy defeat was the likely outcome.

However, there is a new air of optimism around the club at Espanyol, coupled with that never say die attitude. When Morata found the clubs new hero Oyarzabal with a neat ball, the new star made no mistake as he smashed it into the top corner beyond the despairing dive of Schmeichel. This for a moment got the home crowd off their seats. However within minutes Espanyol were down to ten men as veteran Fernandinho recieved his second yellow card for a foul on Rice, which you'd of thought that was it for Espanyol.

Espanyol however continued to press, and when the impressive Oyarzabal found Martinez, he finished in some style from long range in the 53rd minute. It was end to end stuff then as Real Madrid were always going to be threat on the break as Espanyol threw caution to the wind to push for an equaliser which duly came when Oyarzabal found former Real Madrid star James Rodriguez is smashed one into the bottom corner to complete the unlikeliest comeback.

"absolutely thrilled with that comeback, and we could of nicked all three points in the end. We've a lot of new players, but game by game they are settling. Oyarzabal is a big player for us. We were offered a 92, and 2 x 90 players for him this week, and made it clear he is not for sale. He is only going to get better, and along with other key signings, once they all settle, we are going to be a decent side. The one negative is Fernandinho now misses three games. We dont have the most strength in depth, so that's a massive blow. However tonights about celebrating a fantastic point, and one richly deserved"

A hard fought encounter in Belgium ended all square as Oyarzabal cancelled out a Tsyhankov opener to take a share of the spoils. Espanyol found the Liege keeper Martinez in inspired form as he stood firm to take the man of the match, to ensure his side remain unbeaten.

"we lnew it would be a hard game, and we are slightly disappointed in the draw, but its another good point on the board. Oyarzabel is showing exactly why we pushed hard to bring him to the club with his 3rd goal in 4 games. We've some tough games coming up and need to try and get through as many of these with damage limitation to keep our head above the water. Overall pleased with our start and all eyes are on Europe tomorrow against Cadiz before we face the might of Real Madrid"

Espanyol recorded their first league win of the season against newly promoted Bremen with new Brazilan full back Henrique bagging the decisive goal.

The full-time scoreline was somewhere surprising given both sides had 15 shots on goal, in a game where 14 corners were also shared. Oyarzabel capped off a decent week with another assist and the man of the match award and his little bit of extra quality was probably the difference in a hard fought encounter.

"Its only game two, but this was a must win fixture for us. We've identified where we need to be picking points up, and this was one of those fixtures. Last time out against Juventus, we gave a good account but came away with nothing, that was expected. After a clean sheet in Europe earlier this week, it was nice to record another one. It was also nice to have the lion's share of possession. We've avoided any injuries or suspensions which could de-rail us a lot given our squad players are not quite there in terms of impacting our first team. Again its been a week of discussions with other clubs over possible deals, but the valuations we are being quoted is off the scale. So unless something drastically changes, i'm not envisaging any major deals in or out for the foreseeable. We do have a number of players we've identified, but one by one we are ticking them off, and moving on. We've in the main now got a young squad, with a lot of players who will rise in value and ratings over the next couple of years. We've worked extremely hard to get the squad age down, and bring in assets who have improvement in them. Pino is a good example of that. We parted with a 91 rated player in Fekir who was a star for us last season, to secure his signature. He is a full international for Spain, yet he has just turned 19. By the time he is 21, we are going to have some player on our hands. There is a path for him to break into our team with another rating rise, so won't be entertaining silly offers. Football opinions are subjective, a player you rate highly others won't, likewise with their own players, their valuation and yours can be polar opposites.

We now look to Sunday and Standard Liege. They've some injury issues at the back and we need to capitalise on that. They have started the season well though, and have some top players, some we know very well from their time here, and others have been transfer targets for us. They are a little like us and do tweek their tactics from game to game, but we are aware of that, and the threat this carry, so will pick a team/tactic capable of getting us a result"

Season 17 got underway for Espanyol with a narrow defeat against one of the title favourites Juventus.

Going into the game the odds were highly stacked against the Spanish side, especially with James Rodriguez suspended. Juventus have strengthened further over the close season, with more superstars in Davies, Fernandes and Bastoni adding to what was already a star studded line up. The gulf in the two sides is massive, and on paper a heavy defeat for Espanyol looked the likely outcome.

Juventus took an early 12th minute lead when Sancho fed Bernardo Silva who finished clinically, it seemed at that point the flood gates would open. However not deterred, Espanyol kept to their own game plan as the game went from end to end and in the 61st minute, an expertly taken free kick from Saul Niguez found Morata who silenced the travelling support as he smashed home. On balance it was fully deserved in a game where Espanyol created no fewer than 11 shots on goal 4 of which were on target. Espanyol had a couple of chances of their own to win the game, but in the end suffered heartbreak as a lapse of concentration from a late freekick, saw Kimmich meet a Lukaku cross to fire in and take the three points back to Italy.

For Espanyol there was a lot of positives, they managed 44% of the possesion which against a much superior side, was a massive positive. Apart from creating a number of chances, they also forced 6 corners. New signing Morata, despite only playing 75 minutes was also named man of the match for his display, which pleased his manager.

"where are the goals going to come from was the big question for us going into the close season. Any team who loses the quality of Aguero is going to suffer. We tried very hard over to get a striker in, and it proved to be very difficult. Morata over the last 16 seasons has hit double figures just six times, whilst last season managed just 6 goals in 35 starts. On the face of it, stepping up a division with those sort of returns is a big gamble. However I always felt if we can get the right supply in the squad, then he'd have half a chance in bettering those figures. I think in Oyarzabal, Rodriguez and Niguez we have good creativity, and tonight saw Morata benefit from that. He's off the mark on day 1, which is most pleasing. I said going into the game, this was a free hit match. Juventus should be coming here and taking the points, their advantage in squad ability is not open to debate, its there for everyone to see. That being said, we've given them a real game tonight, and they will know that. The record books though will show no points for us. We need to ensure we perform at those levels consistently for the whole season and we will be okay. We've got a core of 15 first team players, then we have 33 players, we are going to need some luck with. Many of these won't be impacting our first team for 3 or 4 seasons, which keeps us very thin on the ground for strength in depth. We need to keep our big players fit and suspension free which will be a tall order over a 38 game season. You only need to look at Juventus's bench tonight to see how big the task is here, and at other clubs like us. However, on the other side of the coin, their manager is now in his 17th season with Juventus and is still looking for his first title. He has had a long time to build that squad up. I've been here just half a season, and in that time had to totally start again due to having 17 players heading into their mid 30s. We are on a long journey, we are currently in the building the foundations stage. There is going to be many bumps on the way, with Aguero's retirement a typical bump, which we've had to face, deal with it, and move on. 100 clubs and managers are competing strongly for any talent around the world, with lots of scouting and lots of gambles being made. Ready made talent comes at a premium price, and you dont always have that right asset to trade for it. We are taking the approach of finding some solid pro's, but mixing it up with some rough diamonds. We've 33 rough diamonds right now, but if just 2 or 3 of them can be polished up to become big assets for this football club, then ultimately they become tradeable and we continue to evolve through strategic trading and finding the next rough diamond"

As we enter a busy pre-season period, before the big kick off on Sunday, optimism within the supporter base has increased with record season ticket sales. The club have increased stadium capacity by a further 2500, as the transitional change goes into overdrive.

"Going into last season, we had a very aging squad. We'd done well to compete, but there was a worry that significant surgery was going to be needed on the playing staff front. Martinez left the club mid-season, with us mid-table but with the squad in the same position with 18 players over the age of 30 with many of these heading into their mid 30's. We appointed Mullan, from Napoli giving him a clear objective of building the future. We wanted more emphasis and effort on our youth set up. We wanted a first team which could continue to compete, but a clear path for our squad players and youth team to progress into first team players. We felt, beyond our core 15 or 16 players, the gap in quality was far too great for the remainder of the squad to impact the first team. With age not on the first teams side, there was a genuine worry that these players had passed the point of being tradeable assets, and were now seen as players on the steep decline. We set out a plan to trade what we could, knowing we'd have to trade again going into this season, and probably again mid season this year. The squad is taking shape, has incretsed in value and we now have assets who can continue to improve. We are on a long term plan here and with that we've set a target of a mid table finish. I've taken into account, the bedding in period of many new players but also the transfer activity elsewhere. The market has been vibrant with some of the worlds best footballers swapping clubs. I think the table is going to be very interesting this season with clubs like Arsenal and Real Madrid on the upward curve, whilst our opening day opponents Juventus are possibly favourites to win the title, given the departures from Barcelona. The updates have also seen a number of clubs get those vital upgrades to their starting 11, which will give them a boost in terms of table position possibilities. The thought of standing still with your squad is now a scary proposition, given the turnover of players at other clubs."

"This is the Managers first full season, but we ask our supporters to judge in season 3. I think 3 full seasons at any club is giving any manager enough time to make the squad their own. We are supportive of the transition at board level, and are pleased with the early signs. We believe there is enough quality in the squad to sustain our division 1 status, whilst we have a greater balance of youth and first team players. We are not expected at this stage to compete with the likes of Juventus, Chelsea and Barcelona, but do have a clear vision of trying to break into the next tier of clubs by season 3. If we can become a regurlar top 6 club, then in our opinion this would be success for a club our size"

Just when it appeared all business was done at Espanyol, then they pull off another mammoth Spanish capture. This time its Spanish International, Teenage sensation Yeremi Pino, who will join from Man City with Turkish teenager Emre Demir. Off to City is influential playmaker Fekir.

"grabbing top young international players is tough in top 100, in Pino, he's up there with Oyarzabal as key captures for this club. We've not really looked too much on nationality of players when identifying them as potential target's. However we've now managed to sign 10 Spanish players, which will be massive for our fabric. We are on a journey which is seeing high turnover over of players, as we look to trade our way into a position of stability. The team is taking shape, the average age of the squad is decreasing, whilst our key assets are growing. Pino in particular is an exciting signing, not long turned 19, already a full international, and versatile in attacking areas. It was always going to take a special offer for us to part with Fekir. He creates so many chances and goals. His departure will hurt us a lot in the short term, and it could be 4 or 5 positions in the league table. Its a gamble to let him go now, but we cannot pass the opportunity to sign exceptional footballers, in Pino we have just signed one.

Demir could be anything, there is certainly a lot of hype surrounding him in Turkey and he has already joined a big club in Barcelona. It's a bonus he is coming too, but he is likely to be a long term prospect"