La Liga Preview: Espanyol - Valladolid

Before the opening game of last season between these two sides at the same venue many expected Espanyol to build on their appearance in the UEFA Cup final and go from strength-to-strength, while newly-promoted Valladolid were predicted to chalk up the odd surprise before finally going back to wence they came and descending into the second tier once more.

This summer the two sides meet again in the Estadi Olímpic as the Catalan outfit prepare for their final campaign in the windy arena on top of Montjuïc that they have called home for the last ten years since they moved from Sarria. A new stadium is being built in Cornellà on the outskirts, but when it will be ready is anyone's guess as the deadline has been put back further and further although there will be big trouble if it is not ready before the end of the season.

A change of home is the big thing that is causing excitement at Espanyol this time around rather than anything that the club achieved on the pitch last season. The previous campaign should have been a glorious one to remember, but instead proved to be one of the most disappointing in the history of a club that has recorded some distinctly disappointing campaigns.

Espanyol were third at Christmas after a run of games that had many talking about a place in the Champions League alongside the elite of European football and that anything less would be deemed as a let-down. But it was not a let-down so much as a plummet as Espanyol dropped out of the top four, then out of the top six and then out of the top ten before eventually coming to rest in the mid-table nether regions of twelfth place.

Real Valladolid's season resembled their opponents this weekend, albeit on a lesser scale as they hit the heady heights of seventh in mid-January before winning just four more matches to end the season down in 15th after brief suaree with the bottom three. A lower mid-table finish was respectable enough for a team that was said to be set to go back down but this time aorund expectations will be higher.

This time both clubs have very different ambitions, but while the Pucela will hope for a repeat of last season's 1-0 victory, Espanyol will want to start the season with a win and then look to set off on a run. New signings have been made, but both sides have also seen players leave and the hosts will be counting their euros after seeing Pablo Zabaleta and Albert Riera go to the English Premier League, while the visitors have sold Joseba Llorente to Villarreal.

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