Espanyol fires 2nd coach this season

ESPANYOL fired coach Pablo Machin yesterday with the team in last place in the Spanish league.

The Barcelona-based club did not say who will replace Machin and become its third coach of the season.

“Espanyol report that Pablo Machin has been relieved of his responsibilities as coach of the men’s first team,” Espanyol said in a statement.

“The club has taken this decision as a result of the team’s performance and with the clear desire to change the team’s situation in La Liga.”

Machin replaced David Gallego in October when the team was already struggling. Under Machin, Espanyol did not improve and earned only five points of a possible 30.

His last match was losing at second-to-last Leganes 0-2 on Sunday. That left Espanyol five points from safety.

Machin was also fired in his first campaign with Sevilla last season after impressing with Girona.

The Spanish league started its winter break yesterday. Play resumes in the first week of January.

Espanyol, where former Shanghai SIPG striker Wu

Lei now plies his trade, has reached the Europa League’s round-of-32 where it will play England’s Wolverhampton Wanderers in February.

Meanwhile, Real Madrid finished 2019 with growing concerns over its attack and trailing Barcelona by two points at the winter break.

Zinedine Zidane will face questions about Real’s scoring slump after it was held 0-0 by a tame Athletic Bilbao on Sunday. The slip at the Santiago Bernabeu came after drawing 1-1 at Valencia and 0-0 at Barcelona over the past week.

One goal in three matches is a paltry return for one of the richest clubs in the world.

“Having had so many chances, we are a bit angry at ourselves, but this is football,” Zidane said. “In the last three games we have had many scoring chances but few goals. I don’t think it is bad luck or a lack of killer instinct. The important thing is that we are creating chances. We will keep that up and the goals will come.”

Real dominated possession but the goalkeeping of Unai Simon, the woodwork, and the lack of a scoring touch saved Bilbao.

(Agencies)