Espanyol fires coach, sports director with 2 games left

Espanyol has fired coach Vicente Moreno and its sports director with two games left in the Spanish league season, the club said Friday.

The Barcelona-based club said reserve team coach Luis Blanco will act as caretaker coach, starting for Saturday's game against Valencia.

The team is in 13th place with two matches to go.

Espanyol assured it would remain in the top division on

Wednesday despite losing to Alavés 2-1.

Moreno joined Espanyol at the start of the 2020-21 season when it had just been relegated to the second division. He led the team back to the first division.

Espanyol, which is owned by Chinese businessman Chen Yansheng, also let go of sports director Francisco "Rufete" Pérez. Technical director Domingo Catoira was promoted to replace him.