Espanyol-Valencia, a bland draw between two historic players in trouble

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Raúl De Tomás against Bryan Gil, in the match between Espanyol and Valencia. Toni Albir (EFE)

Espanyol said goodbye to the season in Cornellà against Valencia.

The duel ended in a draw (1-1), but it did not matter.

There was nothing at stake.

Nonsense on the field and in the stands: 14,990 spectators, the second worst attendance of the course.

In any case, the day that 11,095 people were counted against Villarreal, there were still health restrictions.

Nor is it that the Valencia fans are delighted with Bordalás' team, on the contrary.

The VCF platform has called for an act of protest on May 22 to prevent the public from entering the Mestalla in the last League match against Celta.

ESPSpanish

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Diego López, Sergi Gómez, David López (Jofre, min. 86), Rubén Sánchez, Cabrera, Darder, Fran Mérida (Dani, min. 67), Tonny Vilhena (Dídac, min. 86), Óscar Melendo (Melamed, min. 57), De Tomás and Javi Puado (Embarba, min. 67)

VALValencia

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Cillessen, Eray Cömert (Yunus Musah, min. 65), Thierry Correia, Foulquier, Omar Alderete, Gayá, Carlos Soler (Bryan Gil Salvatierra, min. 73), Uros Racic (Gonçalo Guedes, min. 73), Moriba Kourouma, Maxi Gómez (Mario Dominguez, min. 88) and Marcos André (Cheryshev, min. 73)

Goals

0-1 min.

36: Maxi Gomez.

1-1 min.

46: From Thomas.

Referee

Alejandro Muñiz Ruiz

Yellow cards Fran Mérida (min. 2), De Tomás (min. 44), Darder (min. 69), Omar Alderete (min. 90) and Dídac (min. 91)

They are two numb historical figures.

Valencia is the fourth team with the most seasons in the First Division (86);

Espanyol, the fifth (85).

Only surpassed by Madrid, Barça and Athletic (90).

Now, however, they are in limbo.

The past is not seen in the mirror of the present and the future is a coin toss for Valencia and Espanyol.

Under the control of two foreign shareholders, the numbers seem more important than the templates both in Mestalla and in Cornellà.

Peter Lim landed in Valencia in 2014. Two years later, Chen Yansheng stayed with Espanyol.

Both owners had a friend in common: Kim Koh, Lim's right-hand man until 2020. A year earlier, in 2019, Lim's management hit a ceiling in Mestalla, at least in the field.

Valencia won the Cup, its first title in 11 years.

That same campaign, Espanyol sealed his return to Europe after 12 seasons.

Although far from the objective that Yansheng had promised when he bought the club — "we will play in the Champions League," he said — the Europa League and Rubi's presence on the bench seemed to give Espanyol an identity.

It was an illusion.

That same summer, the coach left the club, his franchise player, Borja Iglesias, left, and he did not reinvest in signings.

Since Chen arrived, the blue and white club has spent nearly 128 million on transfers and has transferred for 116. The year that the most money was invested was in the 2019-2020 academic year, when they tried, in vain, to haggle relegation.

So, they called Vicente Moreno to return the team to the First Division.

The project lasted two courses;

This Friday the club dismissed Moreno, the eighth coach of the Chen era.

There was also no calm in the sports management: Domingo Catoira, who has replaced Rufete, will be the fifth person in charge of professional football.

Catoira must generate a difference of more than 20 million in transfers to balance the accounts.

De Tomás, who did not even celebrate the equalizing goal – Gómez had put Valencia ahead – has the sale sign hanging.

Every year more distanced from Cornellà —it has not been seen since before the pandemic—,

Chen's idea is to keep the club healthy until the sale of its shares is completed.

He wants about 230 million.

Peter Lim is not seen much by Mestalla either.

In the Cup final against Betis, he was represented by his son, Kiat.

“My father gets up at three in the morning in Singapore to watch every game,” Kiat justified.

Lim moves away from Valencia, while the fans of the bat's box have long since lost patience.

It does not seem, in any case, that the Valencia fans are the only ones who are fed up with Lim.

Bordalás no longer hides his disgust at broken promises.

He is not the only Valencia coach who, during Lim's stage, was promised reinforcements that never materialized.

With Lim in charge, Valencia signed for 506 million and transferred for 460. In the last two years they bought for 12 and sold for 90. In addition, as in Espanyol, Valencia's game idea jumps from name to name.

In Lim's nine seasons, nine coaches sat on the Mestalla bench.

Valencia is losing strength in the League and in Europe, it is already the third consecutive season that it has been left out of the continental tournaments.

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