Espanyol kicked off their Primera Liga campaign with a win for the first time in seven seasons as they beat Valladolid by a single goal on Saturday night.
Luis Garcia's second-half strike proved to be decisive as the the hosts managed to hold on to their slender lead.
The Barcelona-based side had lost to Valladolid on the opening day last season and were without a win on the first weekend of any of the previous five campaigns.
But new coach Bartolome 'Tintin' Marquez had spoken of his desire to buck that trend in the build up to this match and Luis Garcia's excellent strike just after half-time proved enough for the home side in this cagey encounter.
Espanyol were rocked by the departures of winger Albert Riera and full-back Pablo Zabaleta less than 24 hours before this clash.
Spain midfielder Riera has agreed a move to Liverpool, while Argentina defender Zabaleta is expected to join Manchester City.
In their absence, Marquez opted for an attacking 4-3-3 formation, which was boosted by the return to fitness of playmaker Ivan De La Pena.
Espanyol looked to the former Barcelona man for inspiration in the early stages but it was recent signing Roman Martinez who came closest, flashing a drive wide of the target after eight minutes.
At the other end, Borja should have been awarded a penalty after 19 minutes when he was shoved in the area, but the referee disagreed.
The game had not yet sprung into life and Valdo failed to connect with a shot from well inside the area after 23 minutes.
The match remained tense and chances were few and far between as half-time approached.
But it soon sparked into life after the restart as Luis Garcia fired the opener after 47 minutes.
The Spain forward - who was heavily linked with moves to Benfica and Tottenham during the summer - collected De La Pena's left-wing cross in the area, side-stepped a defender and fired a low right-footed effort into the bottom corner to give the home side a perfect start to the second period.
Minutes later, De La Pena could have added a second goal after skipping past two challenges but Valladolid goalkeeper Sergio Asenjo was able to save with his legs.
And with 20 minutes remaining, Espanyol captain Raul Tamudo missed a glorious opportunity when he blasted over the crossbar from close-range.
The Catalans struggle to score goals at Montjuic and were making their loyal fans suffer once again as they sought to protect their slender lead in the closing stages.
De La Pena was sacrificed with eight minutes left and youngster Oscar Sielva came on to make his debut.
But Valladolid threw men forward and almost received an instant reward in the second minute of added time, when Bartholomew Ogbeche hit the post.
And Espanyol goalkeeper Carlos Kameni did well to save from Ogbeche as the visitors once again threatened to equalise.
But it was to be Espanyol's night as they held on for a rare opening-day success to mark Marquez's first match in charge with a victory.
