La Liga
Madrid's actual points production on the road remains impressive, with the visitors averaging 2.29 points per away match, narrowly exceeding Espanyol's home return. The scoring history between the clubs also points towards the possibility of goals. Their previous meetings have averaged 2.94 goals per game, putting the figure just below three goals per fixture. Interestingly, those goals have not regularly been shared between the teams. Both sides have scored in only 29% of their previous meetings, suggesting that many of the encounters have featured one team keeping the other off the scoresheet. Madrid's 2-0 victory at the RCDE Stadium in May followed precisely that pattern. The difference in their overall head-to-head records is substantial. Espanyol's three victories represent fewer than 10% of the supplied meetings, compared with Real Madrid's 28 wins. Kylian Mbappe is expected at the attacking end of a 4—2—3—1 formation when Jose Mourinho makes his second managerial debut for the club. Endrick, Militão, Mendy, Thiago, Rodrygo, and Asencio all trained individually and remain in doubt for the weekend opener.
Espanyol vs. Real Madrid begins at 20:30 [GMT+1] on Saturday, August 22, at the RCDE Stadium. Espanyol began their 2026/27 La Liga campaign with a resounding 3-0 victory over Levante on Sunday. A brace from Roberto Fernández [5’, 40’] and an addition from Tyrhys Dolan [88’] settled the contest with ease. Preparations are now underway for a difficult fixture against Real Madrid, where they are hoping to beat the odds and record back-to-back opening victories in an attempt to hold on to the zenith. The previous meeting between the clubs ended in a 2-0 victory for Real Madrid at the RCDE Stadium in May. Vinícius Júnior scored both goals in the second half as Madrid collected another victory against the Catalan side. Across 34 previous meetings, Real Madrid have recorded 28 victories, while Espanyol have managed only three wins, and another three matches have ended level. That means Madrid has won more than 82% of those encounters, highlighting the scale of Espanyol's historical challenge. Despite those numbers, Espanyol enter this fixture with reason for encouragement from their performances on their own ground. Their home form is rated as good, and they have averaged 2.2 points per home match in recent games. Espanyol have also demonstrated that they can overcome Madrid. They recorded a 1-0 home victory against them in February 2025, although Madrid have won five of the six most recent league meetings. A 4—2—3—1 formation with Roberto Fernández in attack is expected against Madrid. Leandro Cabrera is suspended for this clash.