Espanyol hero Raul Tamudo reflected on 2007’s “unforgettable” Catalan derby, when his late equaliser at Barcelona handed Real Madrid the title that season.
Tamudo netted in the 89th minute at Camp Nou to hold Barca to a 2-2 draw in the penultimate game of 2006-07, which ultimately ended La Blaugrana’s hopes of La Liga supremacy and has since been labelled ‘Tamudazo’ in reference to the striker, who also became Los Periquitos’ all-time top scorer.
“If I could, I’d jump on [to the pitch] at Camp Nou for five minutes on Sunday just to see what would happen,” he told PericosonlineRadio when asked if history could repeat itself on Sunday, amidst parallels between the two matches.
“The truth is, in the last few minutes of the match, I dropped into the middle [of the pitch] because I couldn’t run anymore.
“I was worn out at the end [of the game], but [the game] would finish the way it did and everyone remembers me for it.
“It was collateral damage. I didn’t know at the time if Real Madrid would win the League or not.
“For me, it was unforgettable: I became the top goalscorer in Espanyol’s history.
“The beauty of football is that you never know what can happen. Who would’ve bet on [Ivan] de la Pena scoring twice at Camp Nou two years later?
“I think the derby is one of those games that all players like to play in.
“Hopefully we can get the point that we need [to stay up] and breathe easy, although we must go to Camp Nou to win.
“What happens after that isn’t our problem.”
