Vinícius Targets Familiar Prey as Madrid Kicks Off LaLiga

Real Madrid arrive late to their own league season, but one of their stars turns up right on time.

With the opening-round trip to Real Sociedad postponed, Saturday’s visit to Espanyol becomes Madrid’s first real taste of LaLiga this year. For Vinícius Júnior, it feels more like a recurring appointment than a new beginning.

Vinícius, Espanyol and a well-worn script

The Brazilian steps into the RCDE Stadium with numbers that explain his swagger. Across 11 LaLiga meetings with Espanyol, he has scored 5 times. Three of those goals have come away from home, in six visits to this same ground.

No team in the current competition has shipped more away goals to him. There are three other stadiums where he has also scored three times, but Espanyol’s home has become one of his favourite stages. He doesn’t just enjoy this fixture; he leans into it.

For a Madrid side still waiting to find its early-season rhythm, having a forward who treats Espanyol as a familiar target is no small comfort.

Roberto Fernández finds his range

Espanyol, though, have their own in-form finisher.

Roberto Fernández walks into this clash with 3 goals in his last two LaLiga games. That is already one more than he managed in his previous 22 league appearances combined. The surge includes his second brace in the competition, struck in the last round against Levante.

It is a sharp, sudden uptick. The kind of run that can turn a routine assignment for Madrid into something far more awkward if they allow him space around the box.

Mourinho’s unbeaten thread

On the touchline, the numbers tell another story.

José Mourinho has faced Espanyol six times in LaLiga during his first spell in charge of Real Madrid. He has never lost: 4 wins, 2 draws. Against no other opponent in the competition has he gone unbeaten over so many matches, though he has also reached 6 games without defeat against five other sides.

The pattern is clear. When Mourinho prepares for Espanyol in the league, he leaves with something.

González’s tougher reality

Manolo González cannot lean on that kind of comfort.

The Espanyol coach has lost 3 of his 4 LaLiga matches against Real Madrid, winning just once. Only Barcelona and Villarreal have beaten him more often in the competition, with 4 defeats each. Real Betis, like Madrid, have also put three losses on his record.

So the backdrop is set: a coach who rarely slips against this opponent, a counterpart who rarely escapes them, and a Brazilian forward who treats the RCDE Stadium as his own finishing school.

Madrid’s season starts late. Espanyol’s test starts now.