This is perhaps the biggest surprise of the big European championships. After twelve days of La Liga, it is neither Barça nor Real Madrid, or even Atlético, who are in the lead, but Girona. The Catalan club has an exceptional record of ten wins, one draw and one defeat in the league, and seems to have no limits. Best attack in the Spanish league with 29 goals scored, Girona also caused a sensation because of the play played by the team. Resolutely focused on attack, Aleix Garcia’s gang offers particularly pleasant encounters, in a La Liga where the spectacle has clearly been lacking in recent years.
The first instinct would be to think that if Girona is so high in the rankings, it is because the other candidates for the title are less good. It is true that both Real Madrid and FC Barcelona each have obvious problems this season, but they are on a cruising speed which remains quite good. The Merengues are thus at 29 points in 12 days, or around 2.4 points per match on average, the statistics of a champion team. Reported over 38 days, this would be 91 points, knowing that La Liga titles have been decided between 85 and 88 points in recent years. Barça is at 2.25 points taken per match (85.5 pts over 38 days), also a very honorable average and which makes it a very serious candidate for the title. If Girona is here today, it is not because of any possible weakness of its competitors.
Michel, the architect
How can a team that apparently has no superstars be so successful? First of all, it must be emphasized that Girona’s squad is particularly good. This is not a champion squad or a team competing in the Champions League on paper, of course, but it remains very interesting. Playmaker Aleix Garcia, for example, has been one of the best midfielders in La Liga for a while. Savinho is the revelation of the season, and the young Brazilian winger displays a disconcerting ability to make the difference in the final meters. In the offensive sector, there are pieces like the Ukrainian Victor Tsygankov or Artem Dovbyk who would not do well in clubs of a priori higher caliber. The role of side players, like Miguel Hernandez or Yan Couto, is also very important. A squad which mixes young talents and slightly more experienced players, like the captains David Lopez, boss of the defense, or the veteran Christian Stuani, and which is very well exploited by Michel.
The 48-year-old coach has managed to create a team that is very unpredictable and difficult for his opponents to handle. But above all balanced. We are not facing a team that attacks in a somewhat suicidal manner by abandoning defense, far from it. They’re a team that’s difficult to move when they don’t have the ball, and then have a lot of resources to hurt when they get it back. She overflows with speed, creativity and solutions to hurt, with this feeling that danger can come from anywhere. Mentally, he’s very strong, and Michel’s men don’t give up even when they’re in a difficult situation. This weekend for example, they were 2-0 down at Osasuna, and they managed to reverse the trend to win 4-2.
Management is perfect
Member of the City Group, Girona is much more than just a subsidiary club where the Cityzens could send young people to develop. The CFC is providing the means and has ambitions for the Catalan club, like the future training and training center which will be built, costing 25 million euros. In an article published at the start of the season, we had already detailed the interesting plans of the City Group with Girona, much more exciting than what is happening in Troyes for example. But above all, he entrusted the sporting management of the club to men from the region, supported by Pere Guardiola, brother of Pep. An organization that is bearing fruit, and the club is very well managed. Last summer, however, the team lost players like Santi Bueno, Oriol Romeu and Tatu Castellanos, while Rodrigo Riquelme returned to Atlético. All very important for Michel, but they were replaced brilliantly and Girona reached another milestone this season. From there to imagining Girona champion of Liga there is still a margin, but one thing is certain, we will have to count on the Catalan club at the top of the table for years to come.
