April 25, 2023
Whilst never having seen a match in La Liga, I have attended two football matches in Spain. In 1999 I was in the Nou Camp in Barcelona to witness Manchester United’s famous come back in the last two minutes against Bayern Munich to snatch a 2-1 victory to win the UEFA Champions League, thanks to goals from Teddy Sheringham and Ole Solskjaer. Myself and my colleagues were just about on the verge of leaving when Sheringham scored !
On a business trip to Madrid in August 2011, the local Finance Director and Real Madrid season-ticket holder arranged for our party to attend a pre-season friendly against Galatasaray for the Santiago Bernabeu Trophy, where Real came from a goal behind to win 2-1 with goals from Sergio Ramos and Karim Benzema. Thanks to some generous hospitality, it was a fabulous evening !
Girona is a city in northern Catalonia with a population of around 100,000 located around 100km north of Barcelona. I once flew to Girona Airport as part of a holiday near Perpignan in the late 1970s, which involved a train journey to the French border and a change of trains to get to our destination in France. Happy Days !
Girona are part of the City Football Group and so are beneficiaries from loans from other teams in the group. Currently, two players are on loan from Manchester City and one from New York FC. However, players are also loaned from other sides outside of the City Football Group.
Girona enjoyed two seasons in La Liga between 2017-19 before being relegated, but earned promotion in 2021/22 after being runners-up in the Segunda Division.
Girona’s home ground is the Estadi Montilivi, which reportedly has an “official” capacity of 11,810, where the average this season so far has been the lowest in La Liga at 11,226. The highest attendance was the 13,402 for the game against Barcelona !
Girona started the day in 11th place with an overall 10-8-12 record, and 8-3-4 at home, the 5th best in the division. Last time out they lost 0-1 at Valladolid but prior to that they had been unbeaten in 4, including a 0-0 draw at Barcelona. Earlier in the season they had drawn 1-1 at Real Madrid.
The coach of Girona is Michel, although this is not the ex-Real Madrid legend of the same name, and their home colours are a hybrid mix of red and white stripes and hoops, plus red sleeves, shorts and socks.
Girona’s captain is ex-Middlesborough and Espanyol Uruguayan striker Cristhian Stuani ( 50 caps ) who has scored over 100 goals for Girona. Ex-Southampton, Tottenham and Fulham Argentinian goal-keeper Paulo Gazzaniga ( 1 cap ) is on loan from Fulham, whilst Brazilian under 17 right-back Yan Couto and Venezuelan Yangel Herrera ( 25 caps ) are on loan from Manchester City.
According to Transfermrkt, Girona’s most valuable player is Ukrainian midfielder Viktor Tsyhankov at €22M ( 44 caps ), who joined from Dynamo Kiev in January.
Girona’s top scorers so far this season were Stuani and Argentinian forward Taty Castellanos, both with 7, followed by Athletic Madrid loanee Rodrigo Riquelme on 5 goals. Riquelme had previously spent a short time on loan at Bournemouth whilst Castellanos is on loan from New York FC.
Real Madrid need little introduction, being both the reigning La Liga and UEFA Champions League champions, having won those competitions 35 and 14 times respectively. However, they are unlikely to retain their domestic title, starting the day 11 points behind Barcelona with only 8 matches remaining. They have had an inconsistent season by their standards, and after starting the season unbeaten in 12 league games with just two draws, they have stuttered since, losing at Rayo Vallecano, Villareal, Mallorca & Barcelona, and at home to Villareal, who recorded the double over them. They looked to be heading out of the Copa del Rey after a 0-1 first leg home semi-final defeat to Barcelona but a stunning 4-0 win in the Nou Camp set up a final against Osasuna, to be played in Seville.
Real won their Champions League group against unheralded opposition but still managed to lose in Leipzig and draw with Shakhtar Donetsk in a game played in Poland. They have comfortably progressed through the knock-out stages, knocking out Liverpool and Chelsea, both of whom are struggling in their domestic league and are not the forces they once were. A much sterner task awaits against yet another English side, in the shape of Manchester City who currently look in ominous form.
The Real Madrid line-up tonight looked a pale shadow of the Galactico sides of the recent years although there was obviously still a lot of quality in the side. Belgian keeper Thibaut Courtois and veteran French striker Karim Benzema both missed out through illness, Eden Hazard and David Alaba were both injured whilst Dani Ceballos was suspended. They still had Luka Modric, Toni Kroos, Antonio Rudiger, Marco Asensio & Vinicius Junior to call upon though plus the familiar figure of Carlo Ancelotti was on the sidelines.
Tickets for the match had sold out on the Girona website, but typically prices range between €30-€65. The temperature at the 19.30 local kick-off time was around 15 degrees.
Bet365 streamed the match live and they made Real 3/5 favourites, with Girona at 17/4 and the draw at 16/5.
Pleasingly, Real were in their classic all white kit rather than some third change away kit to maximise shirt sales and they got off to a fast start. With less than 30 seconds on the clock, Vinicius Jr, or Vini Jr according the name on the back of his shirt, played a ball down the left hand touchline for Modric to run onto, and the Croat’s ball into the 6 yard box was back-heeled goalwards by Rodrygo but was blocked by Juanpe and went off for a corner. The set-piece was swung in but well caught by Gazzaniga.
It was all Real in the opening few minutes, Gazzaniga was forced to tip over a cross from Nacho and then needed to make a smart diving save to turn Valverde’s low drive around the post. Girona finally relieved the siege and a poor back-pass saw stand-in Ukrainian keeper Andriy Lunin put the ball out for a throw in mid-way in the Real half.
Real cleared their lines with a raking 80-yard pass from the right-back birth by Carvajal which Vini managed to keep in play, but in a sign of things to come, he crashed to the floor after a skilful “Willie Carr” back-flick to take the ball over Martinez, but the referee rightly ignored his pleas for a penalty.
Against the run of play it was the home side who opened the scoring in the 12th minute. Riquelme slid a pass through a square backline for Martin to run onto and prevent the ball from going out for a goal-kick. He laid the ball back to Gutierrez to chip left-footed into the 6 yard box where the unmarked Castellanos had a free header and he gave Lunin no chance. I have no idea where Rudiger was as he was nowhere to be seen !
Real kept the pressure up on the home defence, but after winning a corner there was some argy-bargy near the goal-line with Vini being at the heart of it. After the corner was flicked on beyond the far post, Rudiger completely missed his kick and went down holding his leg, perhaps more out of embarrassment rather than any real attempt to win a penalty.
A few minutes later Vini won a free-kick near half-way and after a Girona player kicked the ball away a few feet, Vini complained furiously at the referee. I was starting the take a big dislike to the Brazilian international.
However, despite his unappealing personality, there is no doubting his ability and a mazy run took him to the by-line, and his pull back teed up Rodrygo for a great chance, but his effort was sliced badly high and wide from the edge of the area.
That miss proved costly as in the 23rd minute, a hopeful long ball out of defence by Martinez saw some awful defending by Militao, who first let the ball bounce, then was outmuscled by Castellanos, who was able to make his way inside the Real area, hold off Militao, stay on his feet ( unlike some other strikers more interested in winning penalties than scoring ), and then fired through the legs of Lunin to double his side’s lead.
Real didn’t appear to be unduly unruffled by this further set-back and a patient build-up eventually saw Modric set-up Valverde but his low effort went a couple of feet wide of the post.
However, Real’s defensive frailties continued to show as Militao and Nacho collided with each other, but Tsyhankov wildly lashed the ball over from 20 yards when he had time to control and pick his spot.
At this point is started to rain very heavily but it didn’t seem to affect the visitors as Asensio delivered a good ball from the right, enabling Vini to sneak in at the far post to send a header under Gazzaniga to bring the score back to 2-1 after 33 minutes. There was a VAR check for offside but although Rodrygo was clearly ahead of the last defender he stopped and didn’t attempt to play the ball so the goal quite rightly stood.
This game was never a few minutes away from some antics from Vini, and the next occurred after he fell to the floor after a challenge with Bueno. With the ball still live, Bueno’s clearance struck the foot of the prone Vini from close quarters, resulting in an angry Vini miraculously rising from the floor to berate both Bueno and the referee. A yellow card was the reward for his petulance.
Girona then fashioned two chances in quick succession. First, a through pass found Castellanos in space but his shot across the face of the goal lacked power, and Lunin was able to dive and save. Moments later, Real lost possession and Riquelme had a pot-shot on goal from the angle of the penalty area, but it drifted a foot or two high and wide of the far upright.
A minute later Vini clearly stood on the foot of Martinez whilst trying to make a tackle and was fortunate to only concede the free-kick and not see a second card.
With three minutes of the half remaining, Vini won another free-kick but rolled over so many times holding his face he hilariously ended up off the pitch. The replay showed the contact had been with Vini’s upper leg/thigh rather than the head, and Martinez was shown the yellow card for the foul.
With added time being played, Tsyhankov beat Nacho far too easily and headed for goal. His pass put Couto into a great position, but his attempt was sliced well wide.
At half-time the statistics should that Girona had just 25% of possession, but led 2-1 and had missed some good chances in addition.
If Real’s supporters were expecting their side to come for the second half with all guns blazing then they were in for a shock, as Girona scored again with barely a minute played. Couto made a strong run down the right and his low cross evaded Rudiger, Militao and Kroos leaving Castellanos free to sweep the ball home from 8 yards for his hat-trick. With the visitors rocked by this set-back Castellanos nearly added a fourth but his brave header went a few feet wide.
Vini continued his battle with Martinez, but after clattering into the Girona defender, he was again lucky to get away without another booking. At this stage the home side were looking dangerous on the counter-attack as Real left gaps as they chased the game.
Real’s defensive performance on the night was perhaps summed up in the 61st minute. Militao initially did well to anticipate a pass in the direction of Tsyhankov but then turned and sent his back pass well away from his keeper and off for a corner. With Real still dozing, Girona took a short corner for Riquelme to deliver a great cross into the danger zone, where again Castellanos was left in acres of space on the 6 yard line behind Militao to head home his, and his side’s, fourth goal of the game. Completely abysmal defending from the Champions !
Vini’s response to falling even further behind was run into Couto and fall over, and then fall over again after a good tackle by Romeu. The “Ole’s” were now sounding from the home crowd as a number of passes took Girona from inside their own area to the edge of their opponents area, but the shot on goal was blocked.
Vini’s next drama queen antic was to tread on the ball when challenged and then fall over and appeal for a free-kick and look incredulous when it wasn’t given. Fortunately the referee decided not to penalise the ball and show it a card !
Shortly after, four-goal hero Castellanos was replaced to a standing ovation and remarkably it was reported that he had only touched the ball 15 times in the entire match !
Girona were now playing like the Brazilian side of 1970, and substitute Valery ghosted in behind Carvajal to meet a cute left-footed cross from the right but could only scuff his effort wide.
Vini then pushed Bueno to the floor after winning a free-kick but again escaped any sanction.
With the match drifting and the home side sitting back on their three-goal advantage, Rodrygo sent a 25 yard effort over the bar, Diaz headed wide, before Madrid scored a consolation goal. Rodrygo made a good run, and Vini took the ball into the Girona area. Showing good skill he got pass his marker close to the by-line and flicked the ball back to give Lucas Vazquez a simple finish from 8 yards.
The closing stages were uneventful but the jumping crowd were unconcerned as their side recorded a famous victory.
In summary, Real were poor, and if they defend like that again against Manchester City it could be a landslide in the Champions League semi-final. However, they do tend to rise to the occasion in European football, and if Vinicius Jr concentrates on his prodigious footballing ability rather than acting the pantomime villain they may well reach yet another Champions League final. Real should also have Benzema, Caballos and Courtois available to select in the semi-final, and will hope that Modric and Kroos are not as anonymous as they were this evening.
For Girona, if Castellanos continues to play like this, there is a good chance he could well end up at parent club Manchester City next season…..
Highlights : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9GKcKwnF_U
Girona FC : Gazzaniga – Martinez, Bueno, Juanpe, Gutierrez ( Hernandez ) – Couto, Romeu, Martin ( Artero ), Tsyhankov ( Valery ), Riquelme ( Reiner ) – Castellanos ( Stuani )
Real Madrid CF : Lunin – Carvajal ( Vazquez ), Militao, Rudiger, Nacho ( Camavinga )– Valverde, Kroos, Modric ( Tchouameni ) - Asensio, Rodrygo ( Diaz ), Vinicius Jr
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