Espanyol shouldn't be the issue here they won the hardest part unless he's considering of doing alot of rotation again like he did again osasuna , not gonna happen this time around thouh the game should still be a win as usual. Thus, resting players doesn't necessarily have to be throughout the full game once the game is secure he can always take them out  besides, they already had alot of days to rest...
At the same time, winning the game isn't  doesn't put them 9 points above until Realmadrid lose a match and I don't think that's gonna happen soon ... they can still maintain their point either way