At the end of last week, just before traveling to Pamplona, Míchel Sánchez, Girona coach, sat before the press and, cautiously, said:
–Our objective continues to be permanence.
On Saturday afternoon, after beating Osasuna at the Sadar (2-4), Míchel Sánchez, Girona coach, sat before the press and, uninhibited, said:
–We can dream of Europe.
(...)
There had only been one match, that of El Sadar, between one appearance and the next, but no one had questioned Míchel Sánchez's first reflection and no one was going to question the second either.
Because Girona, no matter how cautious its managers, its coaches and its players are, plays with an uninhibited tone.
And at this point in the course, with a quarter of the season over, all the parameters support him, starting with the quality of his game and continuing with the quality of his numbers: this Girona, leader of Primera alone (ten victories, one draw and one defeat, at home against Madrid) and top scorer (29 goals in twelve games), he does not shrink or speculate, he displays himself with personality, scores with ease, recycles discards (Eric García and David López), converts the interns into stars (Savinho and Arnau) and maximizes the performance of their illustrious veterans, humble geniuses who shout on the bench and grow, finally, when they take to the pitch (Portu, Blind and Stuani).
So, behind the scenes, some, as nostalgic as they are mythomaniacs, begin to remember the Leicester legend. In the newspaper archives lies the story of that modest Premier League player who, in 2016, had won the league title even with the lowest budget in the championship: 54 million euros had cost that Leicester squad, very little compared to Manchester United's 490 million.
Someone in Manchester must have blushed.
(“I won't be surprised the day Kanté crosses the ball from the wing and reaches the area to finish with a header,” Claudio Ranieri, the coach of the miraculous team, once said).
“Will Girona be another Leicester?” nostalgic analysts now ask, perhaps rubbing their hands, because big surprises can also be a blessing for football.
Not everything is going to be Madrid, Barça or Atleti, many sigh. And while they talk, they look back at Míchel Sánchez.
Míchel Sánchez (48) is smaller than he is gigantic, and with a lively look, as smart as he was when he played for his Rayo. He is the guy who, sitting on the bench or standing behind the field line, gestures and talks with his men and has earned the trust of Quique Cárcel, Girona's sports director, and has also earned the respect of his men and the affection of the fans, who live in a dream.
Who would have thought it just two years ago, when Girona, one of the tentacles of the City Group franchise - under the City umbrella - Girona, Melbourne, Montevideo Torque, New York City, Palermo and NAC are deployed Breda; There are players passing from one to the other, their own ecosystem – it seemed like a failed project. With Míchel Sánchez on the bench, signed the previous summer, Girona was struggling at the bottom of the silver category, and yet, Quique Cárcel had said no, that it was not up to the coach.
And since then, to infinity and much more.
That Girona that flirted with the well of the First Federation (former Second B) began to display its charms: its style took shape, with affection for the touch and symmetrical lines and united with Loctite, a formula that was going to project it until promotion to First and, finally, to the highest category.
Already settled at the top, today there is an abundance of praise for Girona's football, a mirror of Guardiola's City, as solid on the pitch as it is consistent on the scoreboard, one of those gifts that football gives us, often too conditioned by budgets.
(Madrid's current squad is worth one billion; Barça's is worth 660 million; Girona's is worth 161 million, according to Transfermarkt).
