Football News: In the shadows of Barcelona

Hiding beneath the huge shadow cast by Barcelona, in the city the two clubs share, is Espanyol, the minnow set against the mighty whale.

Espanyol or, to give them their full title, Royal Spanish Sports Club Of Barcelona (Reial Club Deportiu Espanyol de Barcelona) will always struggle against Barcelona, due to Barca being sold as representing the Catalan nation and their struggles for independence.

On the other hand Espanyol are seen as representing the Spanish and maintaining the status quo as one nation.

In 70 years of competing against each other in La Liga, Espanyol have only managed to finish above Barca just 3 times, and their worldwide profile is almost non-existent, especially when compared to a mighty entity like Barcelona.

This weekend is the derby between the two, a derby that is of vital importance to Espanyol and its fans, but is little more than a sideshow to Barcelona.

In recent years Espanyol have tried hard to fix their image within the community, to move away from their time backing Spanish nationalism and creating petitions against Catalan autonomy.

Now their name is written in Catalan, not Spanish, and they have also translated their anthem into Catalan from its original Spanish.

Will it be enough to see them move out, even slightly, from the giant shadow of Barca?

Probably not, but they would happily settle for picking up the 3 points today and look towards the future another time.

Written by Tris Burke December 06 2014 08:48:12