Crossing Barcelona’s urban divide: Joan Garcia, rats and fury at Espanyol

Barcelona are preparing for a difficult start to 2026.

Later today, as La Liga returns from its winter break, Hansi Flick’s side face one of the toughest games of their season, nine kilometers southwest of the Camp Nou. At the RCDE stadium in Cornella, local rivals Espanyol are enjoying their best campaign in decades.

Espanyol are fifth in the table with 33 points from 17 matches – their best start since 1995. They have won their last five league games and just two points separate them from the Champions League places, although fourth-placed Villarreal have a game in hand.

Off the field, a change in ownership has filled fans with optimism. ALK Capital, the investment vehicle led by Burnley owner Alan Pace, completed the purchase of a majority stake in Espanyol in October.

It would take a serious crisis for Espanyol to miss out on qualifying for European football this season. Looking at the table, they have a 10-point lead over seventh-placed Celta Vigo.

But they haven’t beaten Barcelona in La Liga since 2009.

Despite Barca’s recent dominance and established superiority in terms of history, fans and budget, the rivalry between the clubs is fierce. This will be particularly the case on Saturday. It will be the Joan Garcia derby.

The 24-year-old goalkeeper will return to the club he joined at the age of 15; the club he left last summer to join Barca who paid his €25 million (£21.7 million; $29.3 million) release clause and view him as their number 1 for years to come. He has been exceptional so far this season, and no one at Barca regrets the decision. This change, however, came with costs for Garcia.

Many Espanyol fans felt betrayed by Garcia’s decision to leave. Tensions are so high that the club felt forced to take special measures for this weekend’s match.

Espanyol installed safety nets behind both goals to prevent fans from throwing objects at them during the match. In recent weeks, local media have reported that several local Espanyol supporters groups were discussing the idea of ​​throwing rats at him. More than a month ago, at a food market in central Barcelona, ​​one of the stall owners told me that fans were asking for advice on how to get them.

Away supporters are prohibited. Espanyol said earlier this week that any fans wearing “shirts, scarves, hats, flags or any other away team insignia will not be allowed entry”, adding: “This rule applies to all areas of the stadium.”

There will be additional security checks and a longer-than-usual list of prohibited items includes “motorcycle helmets, suitcases, laptops and any item that may be thrown onto the grounds.”

In September 2024, a referee was hit by a lighter on the Espanyol pitch during a match against Villarreal. The club was sanctioned with a suspended stadium closure which would come into effect if another such incident occurs.

Garcia as an Espanyol player in April 2021 (Joan Valls/Urbanandsport/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

In June 2023, Espanyol had their stadium closed for two matches due to a major pitch invasion following a 4–2 defeat to Barcelona the previous month. In that match, Xavi’s team clinched the La Liga title and started celebrating on the pitch, until the home fans rallied.

“Supporters have the right to boo or whistle whoever they want, but it must be done from a perspective in which our own club cannot suffer,” club captain Leandro Cabrera said in an interview with TV3 this week.

“With Joan’s departure, Espanyol received a sum of money that was very useful in securing important signings and improving the team, so whatever happens from now on, it cannot have a bad impact on our club.”

Garcia is far from the first Espanyol player to leave for Barcelona. In fact, he is the 38th footballer to take the plunge – but he was the first to do so in 31 years. The last player to change before him was Russian striker Igor Korneyev, who joined Johan Cruyff’s Barça in 1994.

The fact that Garcia was one of them – an academy graduate – contributes to the animosity. At age 15, he joined CF Damm, a local youth club with a strong history of producing talent. He was promoted to Espanyol’s reserve team in 2019, aged 18, and two years later made his senior professional debut – although it was not until the 2023-24 season that he fully established himself in goal.

That season, his performances helped propel Espanyol to the Spanish elite. Last season, in a very limited Espanyol team, deeply impacted by financial constraints and tensions linked to the previous owner, Garcia was the player of the year. Countless heroic displays were crucial to their survival – sealed on the final day with a 2-0 victory over Las Palmas.

After that victory, with rumors and reports already suggesting he was being followed by major European clubs interested in paying his release clause, Garcia posted a photo on his Instagram profile celebrating the feat and kissing the Espanyol badge.

Joan Garcia Pons. Wall. 🧱#LaLigaHighlights pic.twitter.com/wMkXhPkDni

– FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) September 2, 2025

He embodied everything any kid supporting Espanyol wanted to be; a world-class player representing an institution constantly overshadowed by Barca, who has proudly expressed his affection for the club.

In May, even Espanyol manager Manolo Gonzalez said he did not believe Garcia would leave.

“Knowing Joan (Garcia), I strongly doubt that this transfer (to Barça) will take place,” he told a press conference. “I won’t say I’d dare get my hand cut off with that, but it’s pretty close.”

When this decision was finally confirmed in June, Garcia had to disable comments on his social media posts. In his hometown of Sallent, about an hour’s drive north of Barcelona, ​​graffiti called him a “traitor.” Espanyol only released a single statement from the club confirming that his release clause had been met.

Edu de Batlle is a RAC1 journalist who has covered and commented on Espanyol matches for 20 years. He said Garcia’s decision “deeply hurt the fans.”

“Barça recruiting talent from Espanyol is something that has always happened at youth level,” he adds. “Alejandro Balde, Marc Cucurella and Ilaix Moriba have made this choice in recent years. This is how the system works. Barça is a club that has a greater appeal. This is not a new thing for Espanyol, although, of course, it always tires the fans to see it.

“But Joan did it when he was established as a first-team star – and after many fans believed he wouldn’t, out of respect.”

Even without Garcia, Espanyol have made an excellent start to the season, having wisely invested the money from the sale of their goalkeeper to build one of the best teams they have had in years, including €6 million spent on 23-year-old striker Roberto Fernandez and €5 million on 24-year-old midfielder Urko Gonzalez, who impressed last season on loan from Real Sociedad.

Garcia’s replacement is Serbian Marko Dmitrovic, 33, who arrived on a free from Leganes and has been one of the best goalkeepers in La Liga this season.

“If we evaluate the agreement with Joan Garcia today, we can say that it is win-win for both clubs,” says De Batlle.

“Espanyol spent the money very well. But that doesn’t lessen the hard feelings, because they know the club would have gotten the money from Joan Garcia, even if he had joined Barca.

“Joan could be in the Premier League, Espanyol’s money would be the same and that feeling of betrayal wouldn’t be there.”