Espanyol's Monday Blues: Club Takes Cheeky Dig at La Liga Scheduling
Espanyol have sarcastically responded to yet another Monday night fixture, highlighting growing frustration with La Liga's scheduling decisions.
The Barcelona-based club has reached boiling point with La Liga’s scheduling choices, taking to social media to voice their discontent after being handed another Monday night fixture.
Monday Night Madness
When La Liga announced the matchday 27 fixtures, Espanyol discovered they’d be hosting Oviedo at the RCDE Stadium on Monday, March 9th at 9pm. Rather than accepting it quietly, the club’s social media team decided enough was enough, posting a sarcastic message that perfectly captured their frustration.
“To absolutely nobody’s surprise, we’ll be playing on a Monday for matchday 27,” the club wrote on their official channels, letting the irony do the talking.
Not the First Rodeo
This latest scheduling grievance isn’t an isolated incident for Los Pericos. The club’s players and coaching staff have repeatedly voiced their concerns about being handed awkward kickoff times throughout the season:
- Midfielder Edu Expósito previously criticized the scheduling back in January, particularly regarding a Monday night away fixture against Villarreal
- Manager Manolo González has pointed out that Espanyol play a whopping 48% of their matches on weekdays - an anomaly in La Liga
- González has also called for the club to “bang the table” about the issue, just as they did with recent refereeing controversies
Impact on Supporters
The Monday night slots are particularly problematic for travelling supporters. Weekend fixtures allow for greater fan attendance, especially for away matches, but these weekday kickoffs make it nearly impossible for the working faithful to follow their team on the road.
For a club trying to build momentum in their promotion push, having consistent support both home and away is crucial. These scheduling decisions appear to be putting Espanyol at a disadvantage compared to their competitors in the promotion race.
It seems the powers that be at La Liga have got Espanyol right up the apples and pears with their scheduling decisions. The question now is whether this public display of frustration will lead to any changes, or if the Barcelona outfit will continue to be handed the short straw when fixture times are announced.