GIRONA’S LIGA HIGH, THANKS TO ‘NEW PEP’
Today, 3.15pm
BY
EVERYTHING about Girona is unassuming.
A 14,000-seater stadium that would not look amiss in League Two.
A city crammed between mountains in deep Catalonia.
Even the haunt of the supporters’ group is a tiny bar under a block of flats.
It begs the question: how have they been going punch for punch with La Liga’s heavyweights?
The obvious place to point is the name on the top of the door, City Football Group. So they have bought their way to relevancy. Case closed.
Well, it is not quite as simple as that.
Girona should not be competing in a title race which they have led for a large part of the season.
Pepe Sierra, founder of fans’ group Federacio Penyes, said: “It’s a mix of everything. From the players, the manager and the financial support.”
Take a look at the squad and you will see former Spurs goalie Paulo Gazzaniga, Manchester City reject Eric Garcia and €7.5million (£6.4m) record signing Artem Dovbyk. Hardly the talents Xavi, at Barcelona, or Real Madrid’s Carlo Ancelotti have at their disposal.
So who is getting a tune out of this merry band of misfits?
SPORT journalist Sebastian Vargas Rozo said: “Girona needed a coach to give them an established identity after fighting to return to the first division, and the
DAN BURNHAM
TOP FIVE P W D L F A Gd Pts Real Madrid 29 22 6 1 64 20 44 72 Barcelona 29 19 7 3 60 34 26 64
GIRONA 29 19 5 5 59 34 25 62 Ath Bilbao 29 16 8 5 50 26 24 56 At Madrid 29 17 4 8 54 34 20 55
LAST NIGHT: Barcelona L-L Las Palmas arrival of Michel was essential for the road back to the top.”
Michel has instilled a brave brand of attacking football, which maximises both the time the ball is on the ground and the space on the pitch.
Sebastian’s sentiment is echoed by La Liga pundit Andrea Orlandi. He said: “Everybody speaks about Michel being the next Pep Guardiola. But when they signed him, he’d come from Huesca, where he’d been sacked.
“In the Segunda Division, they were in the bottom three at one stage after 12 games, but they offered him a new deal because they knew he was really, really good.”
Sebastian added: “We also hear a lot here that Girona have somehow been buying their way to the top four of La Liga.
“But all that investment would be insufficient if behind it there was no tactical work like Michel’s. Their squad is good, but far from Spain’s best.”
Sierra added: “After 50 years out of the second division, we returned. In the regular season of that year, there were almost 1,000 in the stadium. Then, in the playoffs, almost 10,000. “Fighting for the title is incredible. “If the club get into the Champions League, we think that will continue in the following years.” MASTERMIND