Football miracle in Spain
“Village of the Indomitable”: FC Girona shakes up LaLiga
Retired from FC Bayern, successful at FC Girona: Daley Blind (l). photo
© Joan Monfort/AP/dpa
In Spain, a small club is currently proving that you can be successful in the multi-millionaire industry even with modest means. How is Girona’s football miracle possible?
FC Girona was really serious Nobody has taken Spain yet. With the 4-2 victory in the Catalan derby against defending champions FC Barcelona, the sensational team from the Primera División finally passed their football maturity test.
The captain of the German national team, Ilkay Gündogan, is among the many who took their hat off to the surprise LaLiga league leaders. The Barça professional had to painfully discover the “quality” of his rival himself. “It’s no coincidence that Girona is at the top,” said the 33-year-old after the final whistle on Sunday.
Even in the Spanish capital there was an outpouring of praise for the bunch of nobodies from the separatist stronghold, which is actually hated in Madrid, and the home of “Catalanista” boss and fugitive from justice Carles Puigdemont.
“Village of the Indomitable”
“The likeable surprise team, which was previously considered a flash in the pan, must now finally be viewed as a candidate for the title,” analyzed the sports newspaper “AS”, which had already spoken of the “Miracle of Girona” a few weeks ago. Another Madrid-based magazine, Marca, stated: “No one is currently playing better, no one is trying to play more attractive football than Girona. Spectacular.”
The newspaper “La Vanguardia” compared the club with the small Montilivi Stadium, which has a capacity of less than 14,000 spectators and is only in its fourth first division season, with the “village of the indomitable” around the famous Gauls Asterix and Obelix. But while the comic duo owes their power to a magic potion, more and more people in Spain are asking themselves: How can the football fairy tale of the “little Catalans”, the always offensive and courageous FC Girona, be explained?
Since 2017, the club has been owned equally (44.3 percent each) by the City Football Group (CFG) of Abu Dhabi Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, who is also in charge at Manchester City, and Girona Football Group of Pere Guardiola, the brother of City coach Pep Guardiola. But that doesn’t mean, as one might think, that oil dollars are the secret to success. “The evil tongues who claim this are completely wrong,” wrote “Marca”.
“junk shop”
In fact: The most expensive reinforcement in coach Míchel Sánchez’s squad is the 26-year-old Ukrainian striker Artem Dovbyk, who cost less than eight million euros in the summer and has already scored eight league goals. According to “Marca”, it is a team that was put together in a “junk shop”. About players who were discarded by other clubs and often came for free. These include the Dutchman Daley Blind (33), who was a permanent guest on the reserve bench at FC Bayern, the Brazilian Savinho (19, FC Troyes) and the ex-Barça professionals Eric García (22) and Pablo Torre (20).
In addition, the professionals who had distinguished themselves last season when the then newcomer achieved a remarkable tenth place could not be retained. Striker Taty Castellanos, for example, went to Lazio, midfielder Oriol Romeu was poached by FC Barcelona – and is hardly used there.
But what is the recipe for success? Fitness trainer David Porcel has no doubts: “The patience of the club management”. They have been together for a few years and have been able to work in peace even in difficult times, for example when there was a threat of relegation to the third division three years ago. And coach Sánchez gets the best out of players who “would have been spurned by 70 percent of the first division clubs at the start of the season.”
After 16 of a total of 38 match days, FC Girona already has 41 points – two more than rivals Real Madrid and seven more than FC Barcelona. They have already achieved 13 wins – more than any other team in Europe’s top leagues. And no other LaLiga team has as many goals as the Catalans (38). Coach Sánchez still can’t stop going low: “My team is making history, but I don’t know if we can keep up with Real, Barça and Atlético for a whole season. So far we’ve only secured staying in the league.”