Manolo, from La Catedral’s heights to the lions’ den | OneFootball

From a jubilant 1-2 comeback at San Mamés to a crisis, Espanyol’s season has flipped in 18 games. They now face Athletic needing a win to avoid what could be their first dip into the relegation zone after the coming matchday, the buffer down to two points.

On 22 December, strikes from Carlos Romero and a brave Pere Milla sealed a fifth straight victory, the club’s best run of this century after the six achieved under Miguel Ángel Brindisi in 1998-99. As reported by as.com, that felt like the start of something special, yet it proved the end of a fine chapter.

That night marked Manolo González’s zenith as coach, a season and a half after his top-flight debut, following a last-gasp survival and a dream 2025 that yielded 60 points from 37 matches. With 33 from 17 in this campaign, Espanyol sat fifth for the Christmas break, and González was named LaLiga’s December manager.

He collected that award at the RCDE Stadium on 16 January, before Espanyol faced Girona. That night extended their winless run to three, and few imagined it would span a full round. Now, with Monchi installed as the club’s new director general for sport, the context could hardly be more different.

Since then, Espanyol have taken only six points, squandering 48 of the 54 available, and have simply forgotten how to win. After that pre-Christmas triumph, Manolo said he would not look beyond reaching 42 points, that once there they would keep working to go as far as possible, prioritising the basic objective and taking it step by step. Those words now feel like a presage.

Source: as.com