Espanyol’s date with history

Liga BBVA and football aren’t stopping, and with it, the big games keep on coming. After playing in 'El Clásico' less than a week ago, FC Barcelona will take part in another of the competition’s most passionate matches, this time against local rivals RCD Espanyol.

Both sides are protagonists in one of Spanish football’s best rivalries, and today they kick off the 12th round of Liga BBVA fixtures. The Blaugrana arrive at the match, which will be played at the Camp Nou, on one of the most incredible runs in their history, having won 10 of the first 11 games in the league that they currently lead, whilst their city neighbours sit in eighth.

We have to go back to the 21st of February 2009 for the last time Espanyol took the spoils in the Catalan derby. It was a 1-2 victory at the Camp Nou for the away side in the 24th round of Liga BBVA fixtures thanks to two goals from Iván De La Peña. Since then, Barça have won six times, with the other two matches ending in draws.

The last minute goal scored by Raúl Tamudo to cost Barcelona the title, Lionel Messi’s official debut, the 1-4 win by Espanyol in 1953/54 and the 6-2 victory for Barcelona in 1931 are just some of the iconic moments that this all-Catalan fixture has provided us with over the years.