Madrid  - There is an atmosphere of euphoria in Barcelona right now, and for a change it is produced by Espanyol rather than their illustrious neighbours, European champions Barcelona.

On Sunday night Espanyol - who have lived in the shadows of Barca for most of their history - opened their handsome new stadium with a 3-0 friendly defeat of Liverpool.

40,000 "espanyolista" fans packed into the new stadium, which is situated in the suburb of Cornella, close to El Prat airport.

The impressive inaugural ceremony was presided over by club president Daniel Sanchez Llibre and Lluis Martinez Sistach.

Martinez Sistach hit the headlines in June by criticizing Real Madrid in June for spending a world record 94 million euros (134 million dollars) on Cristiano Ronaldo.

On Sunday, he called Espanyol's new stadium "a magnificent arena", whilst Sanchez Llibre said that "this is the culmination of 12 years of hope years... I am really happy tonight."

Sanchez Llibre added that "without your pride and sentiment, this would not have been possible."

The inaugural match was preceded by various theatric and musicial acts.

Espanyol then thrashed Liverpool 3-0, with two goals from new signing Ben Sahar and one from Luis Garcia.

Coach Mauricio Pochettino - the man who saved Espanyol from relegation last season - said afterwards that "this will be a difficult stadium for visiting teams."

Angel Maria Villar, the president of the Spanish football federation, was present and hinted that Espanyol's new stadium could be used as a venue if Spain is chosen, as he desires, to host the World Cup in 2018 or 2022.

"This is one of the most attractive stadia in Spain," said Villar.

Espanyol's mythical old Estadio Sarria - which staged several crucial 1982 World Cup matches - was demolished in 1999 and the site sold to housing developers.

Since then, Espanyol have been playing their home matches at the Montjuic Olympic Stadium, rented out from the city council. Montjuic was uncomfortable for the fans because of poor transport links and because of its coldness in winter.

Attendances were poor at Montjuic, but "will surely increase" in the new home, according to Sanchez Llibre.

Espanyol started to build the Cornella stadium in 1997. Madrid sports paper AS suggested on Monday that it should be named "Estadio Ricardo Zamora" in honour of the legendary Espanyol and Spain goalkeeper of the 1930s.

Two other Liga clubs that are currently building new stadia are Valencia and Athletic Bilbao, which means that the old Mestalla and San Mames stadia - both used as World Cup venues in 1982 - are now living on borrowed time.(dpa)