Espanyol 1 - Málaga 2

Espanyol: Mora; Fran (Moisés Hurtado 77'), Catalá, Rotchen, Ricardo Cavas; Paulo Sousa, Morales; De Lucas, Pacheco (Palencia 55'), Munteanu (Aganzo 75'); Tamudo. 4-2-3-1.
Málaga: Contreras; Rojas, Fernando Sanz, Litos, Valcarce; Gerardo, Romero, Miguel Angel, Musampa; Darío Silva (Ivan Leko 83'), Dely Valdés (Canabal 87'). 4-4-2.

Team changes: Espanyol: Mora, Fran, Catalá, Rotchen, Morales, Munteanu for Argensó, Navas, Soldevilla, Lopo, Alex Fernández, Roger / Málaga: Rojas, Gerardo for Josemi, Zárate.

Goals:
0-1. 11. Litos. Headed Gerardo free kick wide of keeper.
0-2. 39. Musampa. Shot low past Mora after Darío Silva laid ball back from right.
1-2. 54. Tamudo. Placed ball past keeper after Rotchen headed on corner.

A game with little at stake in Montjuic, where goodbyes were the order of the day. Only Málaga had any chance of reaching the UEFA cup, and that depended on Alavés failing to win at Osasuna. Otherwise it was a battle for top spot in the Intertoto cup, the back door into Europe, with Espanyol needing to win to overtake their rivals. Paco Flores needed to take his side up to tenth place at least to ensure another year in charge, although even that was unsure with the manager holding out for a two year contract and the club only offering one. Everybody assumed therefore that he would be leaving, and there were mixed feelings about him amongst a crowd greatly reduced due to rainstorm falling in Barcelona at the time of the match. Injuries and suspensions meant Flores had to make six changes to his side, with Mora returning in goal probably for the last time and youngster Catalá lining up in defence.

Maybe for that reason the home side were slow to get going, and Litos gave Peiró's team the lead early on, heading Gerard's free kick past the stranded keeper. Miguel Angel missed an easy chance to extend the lead, but Espanyol had an opportunity to get back in the game when referee Carmona Méndez ruled that Fernando Sanz had brought Tamudo down inside the area when the foul took place outside. However Contreras saved Tamudo's kick and then recovered quick enough to block the follow up and keep his side ahead. A few minutes later Musampa combined with Darío Silva (another who may be leaving) to increase the lead with a shot under Mora.

Flores was given a hard time by his fans at the break, but shortly after the restart Tamudo made up for his penalty miss with a typical striker's goal after Rotchen headed on a corner. De Lucas wanted to impress the Chelsea and Alavés scouts who were watching him but shot over the crossbar, and Darío Silva hit the bar in a counterattack at the other end. Málaga had won, but as expected so had Alavés, and the Andalucians had to make do with the Intertoto. Espanyol drop to fourteenth, which means they are theoretically not eligible for the second Intertoto spot (only they, Málaga and Villarreal had preregistered), but they are expected to ask the RFEF for permission to play, depending of course on the opinion of a new manager. Flores will almost certainly move on, feeling that he didn't deserve the treatment he got from the supporters. They are an unforgiving lot in Barcelona.