Espanyol vs Real Madrid Match Preview
Real Madrid will be out to test their consistency this Sunday. The Spanish giants will be away to Barcelona’s local rivals Espanyol in a 4:00pm EST and 8:00pm GMT kick-off.

Can Real Madrid break Espanyol's wall at the Cornella-El Prat?
What people should remember ahead of Espanyol vs Real Madrid is that Los Blancos have conceded only one goal away from home in La Liga this season. However, it came in the worst circumstances—in a 1-0 defeat at Levante.
On match-day 4, Racing Santander couldn’t trouble Real Madrid’s defensive line. But the Castellans couldn’t do so well at the other either as the game ended in a 0-0 draw.
One has to go back to the very first match-day of the 2011/12 Spanish Primera Division to re-live Real Madrid’s only away win in the campaign thus far. In truth, since trouncing Zaragoza 6-0 in late August, Jose Mourinho’s men haven’t triumphed in a stadium other than the Santiago Bernabeu on the domestic front.
Hosts Espanyol eventually stand a chance to stretch Real Madrid’s winless away record in La Liga to 3 matches. The question is, ‘how will Espanyol put that into effect?’
The Catalan club is enduring an early poor run. Espanyol have lost their last 2 games in the league. On September 18, they went down 2-1 at La Romareda through a Luis Garcia double after failing to make the most of their advantage in terms of ball possession.
Things didn’t get better for Espanyol in midweek. They were taught yet another painful lesson away to Levante. The match ended 3-1 in favor of the home side. But then again, something needs to be underlined.
Espanyol’s away form may be terrible, but their record at the Cornella-El Prat is thus far wonderful.
This is where Sergio Garcia scored a goal in each half to cancel Fernando Llorente’s effort and hand Athletic Bilbao a 2-1 loss. The Cornella-El Prat is also where they defeated Getafe 1-0 thanks to an injury time strike from Pandiani last weekend.
Could that venue torment Real Madrid on Sunday?
Espanyol vs Real Madrid Match Report
A spirited performance from Cristiano Ronaldo and a hat-trick from Gonzalo Higuain drew the big difference between Real Madrid and hosts Espanyol on Sunday night.

Cristiano Ronaldo, Higuain and Callejon inspired Real Madrid to a 4-0 win against Espanyol.
Cristiano Ronaldo was on fire in attack. Even though team mate Gonzalo Higuain stole the headlines with his first hat-trick of the season, Ronaldo’s performance couldn’t be overlooked.
The Portuguese, who was involved in several offensive moves, provided the assist for Higuain’s opener. At some point in the game, Real Madrid also had a clear penalty appeal turned down; Ronaldo’s chip in the box hit the arm of an Espanyol defender but the referee waved play on.
At the other end of the field, Iker Casillas also got tested by Sergio Garcia. But the Spanish goalkeeper produced a great save to keep his line clean ahead of the half-time whistle. Higuain doubled his tally inside the 66th minute.
Jose Callejon then put his name on the scoring sheet against his former team. Once again, Cristiano Ronaldo was to thank for making such a good run towards the D before breaking and passing the ball to Callejon who was left to slot it into the net from a few yards out.
With a minute of normal time remaining on the clock, Higuain completed his hat-trick late to round up Real Madrid’s 4-0 victory over Espanyol.
Thanks to this win, Los Blancos went back into the top 3 of La Liga standings. Real Madrid are 1 point behind joint leaders Barcelona and Levante with 13 points. Espanyol have gone down to 15th.