Espanyol vs Pau FC: A Deliberate Step Up in Difficulty for Manolo González
Espanyol face Pau FC on Tuesday evening in what football-espana.net describes as a deliberate rise in difficulty following a comfortable 3-0 win over Olot in their first friendly of the summer. The French Ligue 2 side already has two clean sheets from their own pre-season, and that alone should tell Manolo González this is a different proposition to Saturday's runout, per football-espana.net.
Espanyol finished 12th in La Liga last season, comfortably clear of relegation trouble but nowhere near Europe, collecting 46 points from 38 matches, according to Dailysports. There's a small subplot worth knowing: Pau winger Giovani Versini has been on Espanyol's radar this summer, and Espanyol forward Omar Sadik, now on loan at Ceuta, spent last season at Pau and knows exactly what Versini can do, football-espana.net reports.
Pre-season results rarely mean much on their own. Managers use these weeks for fitness and fringe minutes rather than points, which is exactly why a supposedly weaker side like Pau can stay competitive well past halftime.
Espanyol have the technical quality to win this eventually, but the real story isn't the scoreline. It's whether González's side can consistently turn spells of possession into genuine chances against a side organized enough to make them work for it.
