Espanyol - Real Madrid. On the eve

The Spanish La Liga continues to gain momentum, and on Saturday evening at the RCDE Stadium in Cornelha de Llobregat, the "cream" will begin their journey in the new championship. For Jose Mourinho's wards, this will be the first official match of the 2026/27 season, as the match of the first round against Real Sociedad has been postponed. The hosts, the Catalan Espanyol, already had time to loudly announce their intentions, starting with a convincing victory. Espanyol - Real Madrid Saturday, August 22, 10:30 p.m., RCDE Stadium, Cornella de Llobregat Live broadcast on the MEGOGO media service. Manolo Gonzalez's Espanyol got off to a blistering start, convincingly thrashing Levante 3-0 in the first leg. The main hero of that meeting was Roberto Fernandez, who scored a double. Last season, the "Parrots" finished in 11th place, although they were in the Eurocup zone for a long time, and only a failure in the second part of the campaign prevented them from fighting for high positions. In the summer, the team was significantly renewed: five newcomers joined the Catalan camp, while 10 players left the club. Despite the fact that Real Madrid won both matches of the last championship with the same score of 2-0, the hosts should not be written off, because they already defeated the Madrid team on their own ground in February 2025. For Real Madrid, this match will be the official debut of Jose Mourinho after returning to the bridge of Madrid. Having missed the first round due to the grueling schedule of the players in the international arena, the "cream" want to immediately regain the title, which went to Barcelona for the last two seasons. Madrid have looked very convincing in pre-season, with four wins in five matches, including over Ferencvaros, Deportivo and Schalke. The summer transfer window has been impressive for the club, with Denzel Dumfries, Ibrahim Konate, Marc Cucurella, Bernarda Silva, Ian Diomande and Carlos Espy joining the ranks, while Vinicius Junior has signed a new long-term contract. Personnel problems worry both mentors before the face-to-face confrontation. Espanyol definitely won't be able to count on the injured Quique Garcia, Xavi Puado, as well as the suspended Leandro Cabrera. In addition, the participation of Edu Exposito, who was injured in the game against Levante, is questionable. Eder Militao, Rodrigo, Raul Asensio and Ferlan Mendy are in the infirmary of Real Madrid, while Endrik and Aurelien Chuameni are out of the squad. Due to lack of game experience, Jude Bellingham and Ian Diomande are likely to start the match on the bench, but fans are waiting for official debuts in the starting line-up of Dumfries, Konate, Cukurelli and Bernardo Silva, while Kylian Mbappe should start in attack from the opening minutes. Estimated compositions Espanyol: Dmytrovych - El Hilali, Riedel, Nunez, Hinojo - Gonzalez, Losano - Calatrava, Hernandez, Dolan - Fernandez. Real Madrid: Courtois - Dumfries, Huysen, Konate, Cucurella - Valverde, Bernardo - Diaz, Guler, Vinicius - Mbappe. Will not play: Garcia, Puado, Cabrera (Espanyol) — Militao, Rodrigo, Asensio, Mendy, Endrik, Chuameni (Real Madrid). In question: Exposito (Espanyol). Current form Face-to-face meetings forecast 1:3