Espanyol vs Real Madrid standings after 2-1 win
Shifted after Madrid’s 2-1 win at the RCDE Stadium, with Carlos Espi’s late goal settling it. Espanyol had started the night second after a 3-0 opening win…
BARCELONA — The espanyol vs real madrid standings picture changed again on Saturday as Real Madrid beat Espanyol 2-1 at the RCDE Stadium, with Carlos Espi scoring the late winner. The result came in Madrid’s 2026-27 La Liga opener and handed Jose Mourinho’s side a first league win of the campaign.
Espanyol entered the match sitting second in the early La Liga table after a 3-0 opening win over Levante. Madrid, by contrast, were 15th after the opening round, so the trip to Barcelona carried immediate weight.
Early table pressure in Barcelona
The standings told the story before kickoff. Espanyol had started fast and looked comfortable enough to test the bigger club’s opening-night resolve. Madrid arrived with renewed ambition, a squad full of new faces, and a manager who had already drawn attention for his return to the job.
Goal.com said Madrid travelled to the RCDE Stadium in Barcelona looking to build on a positive pre-season as the domestic campaign got under way. The same report noted that Jose Mourinho’s side wanted to collect three points on the road and settle into the new season quickly.
Madrid’s first league match mattered for another reason too. The club finished the 2025-26 season second with 86 points, eight behind Barcelona, and had gone 27-5-6 over 38 matches. They scored 77 goals and conceded 35, a plus-42 goal difference that ranked second in the league.
How the match unfolded
Al Jazeera’s live coverage said the game finished 2-1 to Real Madrid and that Carlos Espi delivered the decisive goal late on at the RCDE Stadium. The live blog wrapped up after the final whistle, calling it a season-opening win for Madrid.
That ending matters because it immediately alters the early standings picture. Espanyol’s bright start to the season now has to hold up under pressure, while Madrid move into the kind of result that can calm a noisy opening week. Small gap. Big effect.
For Espanyol, the match came after a season in which they finished 11th with 46 points from 38 matches. They were only four points clear of relegation, according to Yahoo Sports, so every point in the new campaign carries extra value if they want to avoid another fight near the bottom.
What the result means next
Madrid’s lineup chatter also ran through the build-up. Goal.com said Bernardo Silva was expected to make his La Liga debut for the club, while Yan Diomande, described as Madrid’s record signing, faced an early test in Spanish football. Those names framed the scale of Madrid’s rebuild, even before the points were settled on the pitch.
Al Jazeera said Madrid’s next league match at home against Real Sociedad had been scheduled for Wednesday night because of the delayed start to the campaign, with the club then set to face newly promoted Malaga on Sunday at the Santiago Bernabeu. Espanyol, meanwhile, were due to travel to San Sebastian on Saturday for their game against Sociedad, their third match of the new season.
For now, the standings show a simple truth: Espanyol started higher, Madrid finished stronger, and the gap between a good opening and a winning one was one late goal at the RCDE Stadium.
Madrid’s 2025-26 league tally still stands out in the background — 86 points, 77 goals and a plus-42 goal difference — but Saturday’s result gives them the first move in the 2026-27 table race.
