Girona earned their big win at Barca, but they’re not done yet

If you had been scanning the director’s field at the Olympic Stadium in Barcelona as Girona ripped Spain’s champions to shreds on Sunday night time, successful 4-2, you’d have seen a shrewd, grinning face within the entrance row, three seats alongside from Blaugrana president Joan Laporta. His extravagant, zebra-striped beard is one thing you may see in an Irish folk-band: darkish both facet of a white-grey streak down the center, the facial hair could not conceal the truth that it was Pere (pronounced Perra) Guardiola, Pep’s little brother.

What scrumptious salt to rub in Barcelona’s wounds, if you’re of the Girona persuasion at least.

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Pere’s presence in that director’s field was poetic. A reminder of the glory years underneath the teaching of his elder sibling (14 trophies from 2008-2012), and a reminder that when this extraordinarily sensible, unbelievably energetic and well-connected entrepreneur was trying to unleash his imaginative and prescient upon Spanish soccer in 2017, it was to Girona he turned, not Barça.

The 47-year-old took over in northern Catalunya over six years in the past with Girona discovering it laborious to fulfill their wage invoice on time and preventing the specter of chapter. Since then he is persuaded the City Football Group to turn out to be main buyers, he is argued for — and received — the choice to nominate present coach Míchel (Míguel Angel Sánchez), he is been a driving pressure behind Girona’s new €20 million coaching facility, and was the persuasive ingredient that introduced Ukraine winger Viktor Tsygankov to the membership from Dynamo Kyiv.

Pere was, once more, the principle cause that the homeowners agreed to mortgage super-exciting Brazilian winger Sávio to Girona, he was the principle cause that the membership may again up Tsygankov’s arrival with that of his Ukraine worldwide strike-partner, Artem Dovbyk and, now, it appears sure that the newest feather within the cap for Girona and Guardiola Jr. will probably be qualification for Europe for the primary time within the membership’s historical past at the tip of the season.

Could — or quite ought to — Barcelona have been benefitting from the astute, internationally-honed experience this man has delivered to their close to neighbours? After all, Girona at the moment are high of LaLiga by some extent over Real Madrid whereas, throughout those self same 2017-2023 years, the Camp Nou membership has sunk to ruinous debt (over €1 billion), turn out to be a cautionary story for the way not to run a profitable membership, and have repeatedly allowed switch charges and wages to run stratospherically uncontrolled?

Answers on a postcard, please.

Anyway, there he sat on Sunday night time, undoubtedly feeling Laporta squirming uncomfortably a few seats away whereas Girona laid on an beautiful Pep Guardiola-esque efficiency in thrashing Barcelona 4-2, their first-ever away win in opposition to the Blaugrana, and all of the extra kudos to Míchel for that.

If you did not watch the match stay then, for heavens’ sakes I hope you had been doing one thing completely very important. Come on: I instructed you right here a number of weeks in the past, to all the time watch Girona!

Need a reminder as to why? If, for instance, you’d sat all the way down to comply with each match Míchel’s staff has performed this season, in LaLiga and the Copa del Rey, you’d have witnessed not solely dashing, enjoyable, stimulating soccer, but a grand whole of 68 targets: 45 scored and 23 conceded. Anyway, for those who did not see this Catalan epic stay then stream the ESPN+ replay or, at worst, some highlights.

What you will take pleasure in is a kind of brutal, scalpel-like tactical performances that unerringly (and quite nastily) zoom in on a rival’s weak factors after which pummel them, with out regret, till they groan, crumble and give up. It’s the kind of factor Guardiola Sr. has been doing with Barcelona, Bayern and Manchester City over the previous 15 years.

The targets might want to stand as proof for my argument right here, and the primary positively set the theme.

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Stuani seals Girona’s win over Barcelona

Cristhian Stuani scores in added time to provide Girona a 4-2 lead in opposition to Barcelona in LaLiga.

Míchel evidently thought that Barça enjoying a right-back at left-back/left wing (João Cancelo), particularly when his attacking excursions weren’t going to be lined by a naturally left-footed centre again (Iñigo Martínez is injured), would go away Cancelo and Barcelona uncovered. And so the opening purpose occurs like this: Cancelo is chasing a ball down the left wing, excessive up the pitch, Yan Couto beats him to it, sees that Cancelo is not chasing again and units off on a run that, with the Portugal worldwide nonetheless choosing himself up and deciding how slowly to trot again in direction of his personal purpose, is unopposed.

Couto, simply 21 years outdated, launches a straight, probing move that Andreas Christensen struggles to intercept on his weaker (left) foot, having been left uncovered by the absence of his left-back. Christensen falls over, Tsygankov (little question with Guardiola Jr. calculating the huge upward change within the Ukrainian’s switch market worth as he charged ahead) squares for Dovbyk and that is Girona forward, 1-0.

Goal No. 2 (making it 2-1 Girona) is one other piece of tactical excellence from Michel. All night time lengthy, their Real Madrid-trained left again (Miguel Gutiérrez) was given liberty to assault midfield, to search out area because the “extra” or “free” man, and he precipitated Barcelona absolute chaos. Even although he performed a predominantly “inside attack” function from left-wing-back, Barcelona: a) by no means managed to get their attacking gamers in behind Gutierrez the place solely Daley Blind, Girona’s slowest participant, was imagined to be overlaying and b) perpetually didn’t work out who, if anybody, was marking the rampaging 22-year-old when Girona had possession.

Michel clearly believed that Barcelona had been indisciplined positionally, that their midfield three performed too tightly collectively and that if Savio occupied Jules Koundé, Barca’s right-back, there could be oceans of area for Gutierrez to take pleasure in. So it proved. When Gutierrez is given the ball earlier than making it 2-1, Raphinha has dozed off, is woefully out of place and the ex-Madrid man runs 30 metres, with each Kounde and Frenkie de Jong distracted by Savio on Girona’s left touchline, earlier than blasting an excellent shot previous Iñaki Peña.

One staff was trying well-planned, slick and impressive on Sunday night time — and it wasn’t the Spanish champions.

Meanwhile, the third and fourth targets would have had Pep Guardiola purring. Seriously, how usually do you see a goalkeeper at an elite, league-leading membership boot the ball the size of the pitch from his palms? It appears like a prehistoric tactic from the Eighties; in actual fact, when he was at Barcelona and Bayern, it was a tactic Guardiola just about prohibited. But, after all, sensible tactical minds wait till everybody thinks that they’ve “understood” and might predict them. Then they alter.

For a number of seasons now, Éderson at Man City is completely allowed to hunt out the lengthy ball, whether or not kicked from palms or thrown, if the opponents are up excessive, committing to the press whereas clearly not being able to fight this direct, old school tactic.

So it was with Girona. Their goalkeeper, Paulo Gazzaniga, has noticed that as a result of Xavi’s staff is urgent excessive, his lengthy kick can isolate three attackers in opposition to three defenders. Dream territory. As Gazzaniga’s lengthy punt drops, Cancelo is both lazy or missing in understanding of the implications to run along with his direct opponent, Valery Fernández, in order that when Cristhian Stuani beats Ronald Araujo to the preliminary header, Valery is one-on-one in opposition to a late arriving Kounde, beats him and slots residence a good looking right-footed drive.

Barcelona 1-3 Girona.

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Why Girona really feel invincible after Barcelona win

Julien Laurens thinks that Girona ought to really feel invincible after their 4-2 win over Barcelona on Sunday

It was an suave call-back to Michel’s concept that Cancelo, out of place at left-back and liable to positional and decisional errors as a result of he is requested to run all night time as each a defender and out-and-out attacker, wanted to be uncovered.

The coup de grace is equally magnificent. It’s 3-2 to Girona and the match has mere seconds left: 99 groups out of 100 would attempt to shield possession, kill the sport and take a smaller slice of historical past. Not Michel’s Girona.

Aleix García, not too long ago criticised for stating the straightforward reality in reply to a midweek query when he admitted that he someday aspires to enjoying for Barcelona, is over the set-piece on the midway line. Gutierrez, a thorn in Xavi’s facet all night time, is screaming — and I imply screaming — for the ball, some 50 metres up the pitch, simply outdoors Barcelona’s penalty space.

No-one within the Spanish champions’ XI on the pitch thinks it is a good suggestion both to concentrate or to mark him. Talk about gradual learners. And so Garcia passes to Gutierrez — the latter backheels a ball to Savio and at the far put up, Cancelo once more has determined that with solely a purpose between the edges and some seconds left, defending is even much less necessary than he is made it look all night time.

Cancelo wanders in direction of his keeper, Stuani is left on their lonesome and Savio’s chip permits Girona’s veteran Uruguayan to complete the scoring, end their night time of glory and end their document of by no means having overwhelmed Barcelona away. A victory watched by the youthful Guardiola brother, a victory performed and deliberate within the model of the older Guardiola brother and a victory that places Girona forward within the title race.

For the Cassandras who wish to be part of me in saying ‘it ain’t gonna occur, Girona aren’t going to win this title,’ a key set of fixtures is simply across the nook: Betis away, Atletico at residence, Sevilla at residence, Celta away, Real Sociedad at residence, Madrid away, then Athletic Club away. If they deal with that, let’s chat once more.

Finally, for these rooting for this final underdog story, Girona’s propensity for transport a ton of targets does not fairly rule them out. LaLiga’s title winners with essentially the most targets conceded ever had been Barcelona (starring Pep Guardiola in midfield) in 1998. They conceded 56 by the tip of a victorious season, with 19 allowed at this stage of the season 25 years in the past; one fewer than Girona have proper now.

It’s one hell of a narrative, regardless of the way it ends, but in conclusion? Always, all the time watch Girona!