Perhaps he could choose stronger expressions. After all, since 1930, when the football club Girona was founded, it meant almost nothing on the football map of Spain. Well, in the 1930s he dug into the second division, but he didn’t even look higher for a long time. At the end of the 20th century, he only played in the fifth league, i.e. the equivalent of the Czech regional championships.
In 2008, after fifty long years, Girona returned to the second division, tasted the top competition for the first time in the 2017/18 season, only to fall a level lower again in the next season. After promotion in the 2021/22 season, it returned to La Liga, and now it is only its fourth season among Spain’s elite. The last time she finished was tenth, so no one expected a momentary attack on the front.
It is therefore difficult to choose suitable adjectives to describe autumn 2023. Fairytale? Incredible? Dreamy? Yes, everything would probably fit, but isn’t it enough?
After all, Girona scored 44 points in seventeen rounds, won fourteen duels, and the only one who could defeat them was the famous Real Madrid at the end of September. Since then, however, the comet of Spain has won eight league matches out of a possible nine and is rightfully basking at the top of the table. She scored probably the most valuable scalp on December 10, when she won 4:2 in the Catalan derby on the field of Barcelona. By which she showed that she will have to be reckoned with in the title mathematics. That it’s not just an inflated bubble that deflates when confronted with a giant.
Girona is 47% owned by City Football Group (CFG), which, for example, is behind the rise of Manchester City. “They helped us a lot, for example in terms of organization or improving the infrastructure,” admitted the club’s sports director Quique Cárcel. However, the current situation cannot be characterized as the result of excessive investments.
After all, the 26-year-old Gunner Artťom Dovbyk, whose ten goals in the competition has so far only been surpassed by the star Jude Bellingham from Real Madrid, arrived in the summer from the Ukrainian Dnipro (by the way, the opponents of Slavia Prague from the third preliminary round of the Europa League) for a rather bombastic 7.75 million euros (about 190 million crowns). Veteran Cristhian Stuani, a super joker who scored six times, has been with the club since 2017. The experienced Daley Blind was then brought in by the Catalans for free in the summer as a free agent after the end of Bayern Munich. And another pair of supports – left-back Miguel Gutierréz and stopper Eric Garíca – paradoxically visit Girona from Real Madrid and Barcelona. That is, the more famous teams, which are still chasing the outsider in vain.
The seemingly disparate mix of footballers fits together perfectly thanks to coach Míchel. The 48-year-old coach believes in an active style of play, as his charges boast the best attack in La Liga thanks to 41 goals scored. They hold the ball an average of 58% of the time, and they are able to alternate between a three-back and a four-back system as needed. In addition, attractive football also achieves results.
So a number of questions arise. Where does Girona stop? Is she in for a hard spring fall? Will he “only” win the top four and direct promotion to the Champions League? Or will they emulate the story of England’s Leicester from the 2015/16 season, when an underrated team achieved their championship dream?
In any case, it is forbidden to speak out loud about the second option. “We don’t think about the title, we don’t look that far into the future. We’re going match by match,” muttered Míchel with the help of a worn-out phrase.
However, his team’s performance on the field demonstrates the exact opposite. The last team to dominate La Liga, apart from the current big three – Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atlético Madrid – was Valencia in 2004. At that time, unlike current Girona, it was considered a major European club. So if the Catalan dwarf’s form lasts for a few more months, which judging by recent events certainly cannot be ruled out, the Spanish top flight is in for the biggest shock in a very long time.
2023-12-20 11:13:14
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