Last Friday, just before going to Pamplona, Míchel Sánchez, coach of Girona, sat in front of the press and cautiously said:
– Our goal remains permanence.
On Saturday afternoon, after beating Osasuna at Sadar (2-4), Míchel Sánchez, coach of Girona, sat in front of the press and, uninhibited, said:
-We can dream of Europe.
(...)
He had only mediated 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 would question the second either.
Because Girona, no matter how cautious their managers, coaches and players are, play with an uninhibited tone.
And at this point in the course, with a quarter of the season won, all the parameters support him, starting with the quality of his game and continuing with the quality of his numbers: this Girona, leader of the Primera alone (ten wins, a draw and a defeat, at home against Madrid) and top scorer (29 goals in twelve games), does not shrink or speculate, deploys with personality, scores easily, recycles discards (Eric García and David López) , turns trainees into stars (Savinho and Arnau) and maximizes the performance of his illustrious veterans, humble geniuses who vociferate on the bench and are encouraged, in the end, when they jump on the pitch (Portu, Blind and Stuani) .
So, behind the scenes, some, as nostalgic as they are mythomaniacs, are beginning to recall the legend of Leicester. In the newspaper archives rests the story of that modest Premier League team that, 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 thing compared to Manchester United's 490 million.
Someone in Manchester must have turned red.
("I won't be surprised the day Kanté crosses the ball from the wing and reaches the area to finish with a header", said Claudio Ranieri, the coach of the miraculous team).
"Will Girona be another Leicester?" nostalgic analysts are now asking, perhaps rubbing their hands, because big surprises can also be a blessing for football.
It won't all be Madrid, Barça or Atleti, many sigh. And while they speak, they turn their gaze towards Míchel Sánchez.
Míchel Sánchez (48) is smaller than giant, and has a lively look, as ready as he was when he played for his Rayo. He is the type who, sitting on the bench or standing upright behind the pitch line, gestures and talks to his men and has won the trust of Quique Cárcel, Girona's sporting director, and has also won the respect of his men and the affection of the hobby, who lives 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 are Girona, Melbourne, Montevideo Torque, New York City, Palermo or NAC Breda. ; there are players passing from one to the other, an ecosystem of its own – it seemed like a failed project. With Míchel Sánchez on the bench, signed the previous summer, Girona was languishing at the tail end of the silver category, and despite that, 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 Segona B) began to unfold its charms: it took shape its style, of love for the touch and symmetrical lines and united with Loctite, a formula that would project it until the promotion to First and, in the end, to the highest category.
Stayed above, today there is a lot 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 a billion; Barça's 660 million; Girona's 161 million, according to Transfermarkt).
