On Saturday night, Real Madrid, the reigning champions, will host a Espanyol team that is riding high in the league with the goal of making it three straight wins.
After winning their past two games, Espanyol is now 12th in the league with seven points, while Los Blancos have amassed 11 points from their first five La Liga games of the season and are now ranked third in the standings.
Real Madrid hasn't quite found their best form yet this season, but they've still had a strong start as the defending La Liga champions have won three and drawn two of their five games to accumulate 11 points, placing them third in the standings and four points behind leaders Barcelona.
After drawing with Mallorca in their league opener, Carlo Ancelotti's team defeated Real Valladolid 3-0, but Las Palmas held them to a draw. Notably, Kylian Mbappe was scoreless in his first three league games for the team.
Real Madrid, on the other hand, has won their past two league games 2-0 over Real Sociedad and Real Betis. On Wednesday, they defeated Stuttgart 3-1 to begin their 2024–25 Champions League campaign.
Before traveling to Lille for their second game in the league stage of the Champions League at the beginning of October, Los Blancos now have three league games remaining against Espanyol, Alaves, and Atletico Madrid.
Real Madrid is unbeaten at home in the league against Saturday's opponents since April 1996, which speaks volumes about the difficulty of the away team's task in this match. Real Madrid has won their last three league games against Espanyol, including a 3-1 victory at Bernabeu during the 2022–23 campaign.
Though there are persistent rumors of dissatisfaction among the offensive players at the club, Jude Bellingham has categorically refuted any possible problems in the camp.
In the meanwhile, Espanyol won their way back to La Liga through the Segunda Division playoffs in 2023–24, and they will be attempting to establish themselves once more at this level of football.
After suffering 1-0 losses to Real Valladolid and Real Sociedad in their first two league games, the White and Blues had a difficult start to the season. However, they have shown promise in their past three games, beginning with a 0-0 draw against Atletico at the end of August.
Prior to the international break, Manolo Gonzalez's team defeated Rayo Vallecano 2-1, and last weekend they triumphed 3-2 over Alaves in the league.
The Catalan team enjoys a solid start to the season with seven points from five games, which puts them in 12th place in the league. Javi Puado scored three goals in the team's most recent victory at home.
The omens are not great for Espanyol going into this match because they have lost to Real Madrid in their past two league visits, and they have defeated Los Blancos seven times in the top level in front of their home fans.
