In the early morning of February 8, Beijing time, the last match of the 23rd round of La Liga was contested, and Espanyol played away from home, and their opponent was Athletic Bilbao. After 90 minutes of fierce fighting, Espanyol lost 1-2 to their opponents, suffering two consecutive league defeats and four rounds of no wins. Wu Lei finally got a chance in this game, he came off the bench in the second half, but failed to save the team.
Espanyol lined up in a 4-2-3-1 formation for the match. The goalkeeper will be No. 13 Diego López, the four at the back are No. 3 Pedrosa, No. 4 Cabrera, No. 24 Serch Gomez and No. 12 Hill, the midfield double is No. 10 Dudel and No. 6 Moranes, the three in the front are No. 19 Velena, No. 9 Puado and No. 14 Melendo, and the top is No. 18 Di Mata.
Just two minutes into the first half, Espanyol got off to a fantastic start when Villene's shot from the middle of the box turned 1-0. In the 4th minute Athletic Bilbao quickly equalised, and Sanchet's powerful shot from the right side of the penalty area made it 1-1. In the 15th minute, Athletic Bilbao counter-scored, Vivian delivered an assist and Inigo Martinez scored with a header to make it 2-1.
In the 57th minute, Oscar Hill crossed from the flank and the ball hit the opposing player and the referee signaled for the game to continue. In the 72nd minute, Espanyol changed horses, and Wu Lei came off the bench to usher in his debut in the last 8 league games. In the 85th minute, the opposing player pulled Wu Lei to foul and yellowed. In the 89th minute, Dadel's long-range shot from the top of the arc was blocked by the opposing goalkeeper.
In the end, the 90-minute match was over, and Athletic Bilbao defeated Espanyol 2-1 at home. The winning Bilbao have two consecutive league wins, and they are provisionally 8th in the table with 34 points, just two points away from the European zone. Espanyol suffered two consecutive league defeats, slipping to 13th place with 27 points.