How Girona earned their win at Barcelona and why that you must take them severely

When you have been scanning the director’s field on the Olympic Stadium in Barcelona as Girona ripped Spain’s champions to shreds on Sunday evening, 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 people band: darkish both facet of a white-grey streak down the center, the facial hair could not cover the truth that it was Pere (pronounced Perra) Guardiola, Pep’s little brother.

What scrumptious salt to rub in Barcelona’s wounds, if you might be of the Girona persuasion not less than.

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Pere’s presence in that director’s field was poetic. A reminder of the glory years beneath the teaching of his elder sibling (14 trophies from 2008-12), and a reminder that when this extraordinarily good, 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 onerous to fulfill their wage invoice on time and preventing the specter of chapter. Since then, he is persuaded the Metropolis Soccer Group to grow to be main traders, he is argued for — and gained — the choice to nominate present coach Míchel (Míguel Angel Sánchez), he is been a driving power behind Girona’s new €20 million coaching facility, and was the persuasive factor that introduced Ukraine winger Viktor Tsygankov to the membership from Dynamo Kyiv.

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

Might — or quite ought to — Barcelona have been benefitting from the astute, internationally honed experience this man has delivered to their close to neighbours? In any case, Girona are actually prime of LaLiga by a degree over Actual Madrid whereas, throughout those self same 2017-23 years, the Camp Nou membership has sunk to ruinous debt (over €1 billion), grow 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.

Solutions on a postcard, please.

Anyway, there he sat on Sunday evening, 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 towards the Blaugrana, and all of the extra kudos to Míchel for that.

When you did not watch the match stay then, for heaven’s sake I hope you have been doing one thing completely very important. Come on: I instructed you right here just a few weeks in the past, to at all times watch Girona!

Want a reminder as to why? If, for instance, you’d sat right down to observe 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, however a grand whole of 68 targets: 45 scored and 23 conceded. Anyway, if you happen to did not see this Catalan epic stay then stream the ESPN+ replay or, at worst, some highlights.

What you will get pleasure from 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 is the kind of factor Guardiola Sr. has been doing with Barcelona, Bayern and Manchester Metropolis over the previous 15 years.

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

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 coated by a naturally left-footed centre again (Iñigo Martínez is injured), would depart Cancelo and Barcelona uncovered. And so the opening objective 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 objective, is unopposed.

Couto, simply 21 years previous, launches a straight, probing cross 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 doubt 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.

Purpose No. 2 (making it 2-1 Girona) is one other piece of tactical excellence from Michel. All evening lengthy, their Actual Madrid-trained left again (Miguel Gutiérrez) was given liberty to assault midfield, to search out house because the “additional” or “free” man, and he brought on Barcelona absolute chaos. Though he performed a predominantly “inside assault” position 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 purported to be overlaying and b) perpetually did not work out who, if anybody, was marking the rampaging 22-year-old when Girona had possession.

Michel clearly believed that Barcelona have been undisciplined positionally, that their midfield three performed too tightly collectively and that if Savio occupied Jules Koundé, Barca’s right-back, there can be oceans of house for Gutierrez to get pleasure from. 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 a great 30 metres, with each Kounde and Frenkie de Jong distracted by Savio on Girona’s left touchline, earlier than blasting a fantastic shot previous Iñaki Peña.

One staff was wanting well-planned, slick and bold on Sunday evening — and it wasn’t the Spanish champions.

In the meantime, the third and fourth targets would have had Pep Guardiola purring. Significantly, how typically do you see a goalkeeper at an elite, league-leading membership boot the ball the size of the pitch from his arms? It appears to be like like a prehistoric tactic from the Eighties; actually, when he was at Barcelona and Bayern, it was a tactic Guardiola just about prohibited. However, after all, good 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 Metropolis is completely allowed to hunt out the lengthy ball, whether or not kicked from arms or thrown, if the opponents are up excessive, committing to the press whereas clearly not being able to fight this direct, old style 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 towards three defenders. Dream territory. As Gazzaniga’s lengthy punt drops, Cancelo is both lazy or missing in understanding of the implications to run together with his direct opponent, Valery Fernández, in order that when Cristhian Stuani beats Ronald Araujo to the preliminary header, Valery is one-on-one towards a late arriving Kounde, beats him and slots house a phenomenal 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 clever 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 evening as each a defender and out-and-out attacker, wanted to be uncovered.

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

Aleix García, just lately 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 evening, is screaming — and I imply screaming — for the ball, some 50 metres up the pitch, simply exterior 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. Discuss gradual learners. And so Garcia passes to Gutierrez — the latter backheels a ball to Savio and on the far put up, Cancelo once more has determined that with solely a objective between the edges and some seconds left, defending is even much less essential than he is made it look all evening.

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 evening of glory and end their file of by no means having crushed Barcelona away. A victory watched by the youthful Guardiola brother, a victory performed and deliberate within the type 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 house, Sevilla at house, Celta away, Actual Sociedad at house, Madrid away, then Athletic Membership away. In the event that they address that, let’s chat once more.

Lastly, for these rooting for this final underdog story, Girona’s propensity for delivery a ton of targets would not fairly rule them out. LaLiga’s title winners with essentially the most targets conceded ever have 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 is one hell of a narrative, irrespective of the way it ends, however in conclusion? At all times, at all times watch Girona!