Spanish La Liga
2026-08-22 - Espanyol vs Real Madrid
A Sports Betting Pick by Gladiator
Football: Spain: La Liga - Round 1
RCDE Stadium (Cornella de Llobregat), Spain
Saturday, 22nd August 2026 - Kick-Off 21:30 CET
Espanyol
Espanyol could hardly have asked for a better start to their new La Liga campaign. Manolo Gonzalez's side opened the season with an impressive 3-0 victory over Levante, and they now return to the RCDE Stadium with an opportunity to test a Real Madrid team playing their first league match of the season.
The hosts will not be at full strength themselves. Javi Puado and Kike Garcia are among the attacking players unavailable through injury, while there are additional fitness concerns within the squad. That takes away some of Gonzalez's options, but the opening weekend showed that Espanyol can still create and score without several regulars.
Playing at home should encourage them to be relatively ambitious rather than simply defending around their own penalty area. That could be important here. Real Madrid naturally have enough attacking quality to punish Espanyol whenever the hosts leave space, but there are also reasons to believe the Catalan side can create opportunities of their own.
Espanyol have caused Madrid problems at this stadium before, including a 1-0 home victory in February 2025. Madrid won both meetings last season without conceding, but the circumstances are rather different this time.
Real Madrid
This is the beginning of another new era for Real Madrid, with Jose Mourinho back in charge and expected to challenge immediately for the La Liga title. Madrid have strengthened considerably during the summer and there is certainly no shortage of attacking talent.
Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Junior are available, while Jude Bellingham, Arda Guler, Brahim Diaz and new signing Yan Diomande give Mourinho several ways of constructing his attack. With that amount of individual quality, it is difficult to see Espanyol keeping Madrid quiet for the entire 90 minutes.
The bigger question is what happens at the other end.
Madrid travel to Barcelona with a significant injury list. Eder Militao, Ferland Mendy and Raul Asencio are unavailable in defence, while Rodrygo is also sidelined. Aurelien Tchouameni has returned to some training but has not been deemed ready to play, and Endrick is another absentee.
That is particularly relevant when considering the Both Teams to Score market. Madrid can still field a strong defence on paper following their summer recruitment, but this is a newly assembled back line playing its first competitive league match together. Mourinho is integrating several new players at once, and Madrid have also had less competitive rhythm than their opponents.
There should be very little concern about whether Madrid can score. Mbappe and Vinicius against Espanyol's defence is a major mismatch in individual quality. The greater uncertainty is whether Madrid can produce a clean sheet away from home while dealing with injuries, new combinations and an Espanyol side already coming off a convincing league victory.
Betting Verdict
Real Madrid are understandably favourites and should still have enough quality to leave Barcelona with three points. However, their short match odds are less appealing when considering the number of unavailable players and the fact that this will be Mourinho's first competitive match since returning to the club.
Instead, the Both Teams to Score market looks much more interesting at 1.95.
Espanyol already have competitive football in their legs and scoring three times in their opening match should give them confidence. At home, they should get opportunities against a Madrid side missing several defensive and midfield options.
At the opposite end, it would be surprising if Espanyol prevented Madrid from scoring. Mbappe, Vinicius and the supporting attacking talent should generate plenty of chances even if Mourinho's team are not yet operating at their best.
The likely pattern is therefore a match in which Madrid have the superior attacking quality but are not quite secure enough defensively to trust them for a clean sheet. Espanyol scoring once does not necessarily prevent an away victory, which makes a 1-2 scoreline a reasonable way of combining both views.
The Statistics :
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The Pick :
Espanyol 1-2 Real Madrid
