ESPANYOL v OSASUNA TICKETS: Sunday, October 1, 2006, Estadi Olimpic. Another fresh start

Don’t Panic! That’s the message coming out the Espanyol camp this week after the team were beaten at Mallorca last weekend to leave them with only three points from their opening four league outings.
Captain Raul Tamudo stated that the squad recognised that there is a problem with the performances, but that no solution had yet been found. They do say that the first step towards recovery is to admit that something is wrong, so los periquitos are indeed on the right path and if the season is to be kick-started, again, then there would be no better time than the visit of Osasuna this weekend.
By the time this edition of Sports Matter is with you Espanyol will have
played the second leg of their UEFACiip first round tie with Artmedia and may have chalked up a resounding victory. Whatever the outcome was, however, Ernesto Valverde’s team need to win their second consecutive hom game in the league. A fortnight ago, Goals from Moi’ses Hurtado and Jonatas earned them a morale-boosting victory over a Celta team that finished in the top six last term. The bad news came seven days later when a 1-0 defeat at Mallorca put Espanyol almost back to square one. Another stren test awaits here as Osasuna have bounced back from losing their first two league games, and being eliminated from the Champions League in the qualifiers by Hamburg, to record two successive victories.
A home win against Nastic was followed up last Sunday with a 2-0 victory at, of all places, Celta Vigo.
Cuco Ziganda’s outfit are strong, but can be caught on the break and that is where Espanyol will have to focus. Three points are badly needed.
Who are CA Osasuna?
The Pamplona-based club’s rise in recent years can be put down to just one man, Javier Aguirre.
After taking his native Mexico to the World Cup Finals in 2002, Aguirre took the reins at El Sadar, now re-named El Reyno de Navarra, and begun to build a solid squad that became renowned for their battling spirit and impressive home form.
At the end of his fourth season in charge, the team qualified for the Champions League qualifiers having finished fourth on the final day, but instead of staying put to enjoy one season in Europe, Aguirre accepted an offer to take over the poisoned chalice of Atletico Madrid coach.
Cuco Ziganda was promoted from within and he has made some shrwd signings and vowed not to change much from the Aguirre-era.
Unfortunately, the club failed to make it the group stages of the Champions League after losing on away goals against Hamburg .