Espanyol Vs Barcelona [0–2] – La Liga 2025/2026: How Barça Survived The Derbi Barceloní – Tactical Analysis

The Derbi Barceloní has been a very emotional game for many years, delivering many highlights and scandals, such as Espanyol fans running onto the pitch to stop Barcelona from celebrating their league title a couple of years back.

While the emotional value was always there, the game was rather insignificant on the actual sporting side.

While Espanyol have always been a tough team to play against, the second biggest club from the Catalan capital has failed to win the derby in La Liga since February 2009, so just about 13 years ago.

This year, things could be different, though.

Under Manolo González, Espanyol are having a stellar season, currently in fifth place in the table and with a realistic chance of qualifying for the UEFA Champions League.

On the other side, Barcelona are leading La Liga, and with Real Madrid struggling over the last couple of weeks, the Blaugrana are currently the favourites to become Spanish champions again this term.

The derby against Espanyol proved harder than they had imagined before the game started.

The home team defended incredibly well and had a clear plan of attack against their giant neighbours, but failed to convert their chances into goals and then conceded two late on, narrowly losing the game.

In this tactical analysis, we will examine the tactics Espanyol and González used to hurt Barcelona, how Hansi Flick responded, and how Barcelona ultimately got away with the win.

Players & Formations Used

Both managers have played in a 4-2-3-1 formation throughout the season, and neither changed their base formation for the derby.

Manolo González opted to start Marko Dmitrović in goal, with skipper Leandro Cabrera and Fernando Calero forming the experienced centre-back pairing and Carlos Romero and Omar El Hilali playing as the two fullbacks.

Urko González and Pol Lozano played as the double pivot in front of the backline, and Edu Expósito got the start in attacking midfield.

On the wings next to Expósito, Tyrhys Dolan and Pere Milla started and flanked Roberto Fernández as the lone striker, capping off the starting eleven for Espanyol.

On the other side, Hansi Flick started former Espanyol goalkeeper Joan García in goal; it was the young goalkeepers first game back at his old club.

Pau Cubarsí and Gerard Martín played as the two centre-backs, with Alejandro Balde playing as left-back and Jules Koundé playing on the right side of defence.

Eric García, once again, played as the holding midfielder next to captain Frenkie de Jong, with Raphinha as the attacking midfielder.

Manchester United loanee Marcus Rashford played on the left wing, young superstar Lamine Yamal on the right, while Ferran Torres started up front.

Espanyol Slicing Through The Press

Espanyol has the image of being a very defensive team, always incredibly physical, and sometimes even more than that, but under Manolo González, the team has undergone a transformation into a good side.

The team creates a decent number of opportunities for themselves, and most of the time, they do so by playing fluid football.

Still, the players know their limits.

They don’t shy away from long balls and playing for second balls, and González and his men did really well against Barca once again on that front.

Espanyol tried to build up with short passes, even against a very high press from Flick’s men.

González pushed the near-sided full-back into a very wide position near the sideline, leaving the two centre-backs to form a pseudo-back three with the goalkeeper.

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