Drawing Juventus away in this way is enough to make the world look at the Espanyol with admiration.
Undefeated in 7 warm-up matches.
Among them are giants like Juventus and powerful teams like Everton.
This is enough to prove that the Espanyol team this season cannot be underestimated, and it can cause trouble for any team.
Of course, the warm-up match is just a warm-up match and cannot explain too many problems.
Both the media and fans believe that the real test for Espanyol is the upcoming Champions League play-offs.
Even the Spanish players think so.
Espanyol is a veteran team in La Liga. According to statistics compiled by AS, Espanyol's La Liga total points ranked seventh among all teams.
It can be said that the Espanyol team has figured out La Liga.
But the Champions League is uncharted territory for Espanyol, as they have never played in a Champions League game.
After playing the warm-up match against Juventus, the Espanyol team hurried back to Barcelona early the next morning.
Three days later, they will face the challenge of French Ligue 1 giants Monaco at their home court.
There will be two play-off rounds, with the winner advancing to the Champions League group stage and the loser going home.
These two games are crucial for the Espanyol team, and they almost determine the success or failure of the Spaniard's season.
During the offseason, the Espanyol team did not find any Spanish teams for warm-up matches. This was to prepare for the Champions League.
Espanyol's opponent Monaco is very difficult.
A total of 20 teams participated in the play-off draw. Manchester City, Porto, Espanyol, Monchengladbach, and Roma directly qualified for the draw based on their league rankings. Another 15 teams advanced through the third round of qualifying.
Manchester City, Ajax and Monchengladbach were very lucky and all drew weaker opponents, while Espanyol and Roma were a bit unlucky.
The Espanyol team was drawn to Monaco, while the Roma team had even worse luck and was drawn to the Portuguese Super League giant Porto.
In terms of reputation, Monaco is a little worse than Porto. In terms of strength, they are about the same, but in terms of condition, Monaco is definitely much better now.
Monaco was third in Ligue 1 in the 2015-16 season. They entered the play-off draw through the qualifying rounds.
In the third qualifying round, Monaco's opponent was Fenerbahce, the giant of the Turkish Super League.
In the first round, Monaco lost 1:2 away from home.
Back at home, Germain and Falcao scored three goals and reversed the strong Fenerbahce 3:1, showing the world their strength and will.
Among this team, the most famous one is of course Brazilian forward Tiger Falcao, but Bernardo Silva, Lemar, the talented young Mbappe, and Mendy cannot be underestimated. They all have the ability to change a team.
players in the game.
However, the backbone of this team is their Portuguese head coach Jardim.
Before coaching Monaco, Jardim had a very impressive coaching resume.
In the 2011-2012 season, Jardim led the little-known Portuguese team Braga to miraculously beat all the Portuguese Super League giants and win the third place in the Portuguese Super League that season.
In the 2012-2013 season, Jardim set a six-month unbeaten record for the team while coaching Olympiacos, and eventually won the Greek League championship easily with a 10-point lead over the second place in the league.
In the 2013-2014 season, Jardim led Sporting Lisbon to the second place in the Portuguese Super League.
Beginning in the summer of 2014, Jardim became the head coach of Monaco. In his first season, he led Monaco to third place in Ligue 1 and secured Monaco's Champions League qualification.
The players are talented and capable, and the coach is experienced and wise. Such a team is definitely not easy to deal with.
Back in Barcelona, the Espanyol team only rested for two hours and immediately got into training.
The Espanyol team returned from training undefeated. The fans of the Espanyol team were very excited. On that day, more than 3,000 fans poured into the Halke Sports City to watch their training.
I have just flown to three countries and played seven warm-up games. This training cannot be a real practice, which means warming up, recovering, and meeting the fans.
The training ended early. The players did not go home directly, but went to the base's tactical room for a meeting.
After everyone found a place to sit, Sergio said: "Our first Champions League game is only three days away. Today we are going to hold a tactical seminar. Let's take a look first at what Coach Ruben did for us.
Monaco match highlights.”
After watching the game highlights, the Espanyol players were silent.
Even from the highlights, they can see that this is a strong team, both in terms of tactical quality and personal strength.
Sergio said: "After reading it, come on, let's talk about our opinions."
Captain Lopez wanted to take the lead. He took the lead and said: "This is a strong enemy! Their offensive power is quite strong! Falcao cannot give a chance... Their defense does not seem to be that reliable. This is our opportunity."
"
Sergio smiled and nodded.
Lopez has semi-retired this season and is more involved as a coach of the team. It seems that he has made considerable progress.
Next is team vice-president Sanchez, "Captain Lopez said that Monaco must not be underestimated, but they are strong offensively and weak defensively, which we can take advantage of. As long as we can withstand their attack, the balance of victory will fall in our favor."
This side..."
Before Sanchez finished speaking, defender Duterte interjected: "Falcao and Silva are extremely capable in individual combat. Our defense alone cannot withstand it. The front line must return to defend more."
Sanchez said: "The main thing is not to rely on the forwards to defend. The forwards need to put pressure on the opponent. If they don't score, it will be useless no matter how good the defense is."
Zhao Yang said: "Lemar and Silva are very important. If we lock them down and no one delivers shells to Falcao, we will have a greater chance of winning."
Midfielder Diop said: "The little guy named Mbappe has strange speed. We have to be careful not to let him rush up."
Sanchez said disdainfully: "Is that little guy 18 years old? He is still young, and Jardim may not even let him play."
Defender Alvarez said: "Although our defense cannot be said to be impregnable, it has been tested by the forwards of Real Madrid and Barcelona, and it can still be afraid of a child."
Zhao Yang smiled and said nothing, thinking that he had been tested, but if he conceded five or six goals in one game, he couldn't be convinced.
After a discussion, everyone had their own opinions, but the overall opinion was the same: Monaco is very strong and cannot be underestimated.
Head coach Sergio asked the players to watch the highlights and speak, just to achieve this goal.
La Liga is the number one league in the world. The Spaniards finished fourth in the league last season and did not suffer a single defeat when training abroad. The players' mentality is also a bit impetuous and they don't pay much attention to teams from other leagues in their words.
Sergio was worried that they would underestimate their opponent, but now it seems that the players are still very sensible and have not been dazzled by the victory.