ELCHE, Spain (March 1, 2026) (Interstat) — Elche and Espanyol opened their La Liga seasons with a 2-2 draw Sunday at Estadio Manuel Martínez Valero.

Espanyol’s Kike García opened the scoring in the seventh minute. Elche equalized before halftime on a goal from midfielder Marc Aguado. Substitute Carlos Romero put Espanyol ahead again in the 57th minute, assisted by fellow sub Roberto Férnandez. Elche found its second equalizer later in the half.

The match turned chaotic in stoppage time. Espanyol substitute Charles Pickel received a yellow card and a subsequent red card in the 95th minute. The result defied a pregame projection of a 1-1 draw by Interstat, which gave Elche a slight 51.3% probability to win. Both teams are 0-0-1 to start the campaign.