“We have to start believing again,” says Espanyol boss ahead of Atléti clash

Manolo González hopes that Espanyol can draw inspiration from Real Madrid’s recent resurgence as they look to pick up their first win of 2026.

It has been a tough start to the calendar year for the blanc-i-blaus, who have picked up just two points from an available 21 since Christmas.

Speaking in a pre-match press conference ahead of Saturday’s trip to face Atlético Madrid, González explained that “we’re losing matches we didn’t deserve to lose.

“We were neither the best team in the world before [the Christmas break], nor are we the worst team now.

“From here, we have to start believing again. A month ago, Real Madrid looked like they were dead and buried in the league,” he said, referencing los Blancos‘ uptick in form since the arrival of Álvaro Arbeloa.

“Every team goes through bad runs. Nobody can escape it. Real Madrid seemed finished and now they’re top of the table, so we need to keep our heads straight and turn the situation around as soon as possible.”

The Espanyol boss highlighted his defence as a key area for improvement, after shipping 16 goals in seven games since the turn of the year.

“We have to recover our defensive reliability and the sense of security we had,” he told the media.

“With time, everything will fall back into place. Calmness has to lead us back to winning.”

The 47-year-old added: “We’ve probably won matches we didn’t deserve to, but the same has happened when we’ve lost. That’s why we need to get back to our best version.”

Atlético Madrid v Espanyol kicks off at the Riyadh Air Metropolitano at 20:00 GMT on Saturday 21 February.

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