Ángel Llorente (75), dressed in his official Girona FC shirt, is heartbroken. He must have been one of the few of the 14,184 spectators who filled Montilivi who did not define himself between “his Madrid”, the team with which he arrived in the heart of the city of four rivers in 1968, and “his Girona”, the team that has fallen in love with him. “They play wonderfully, what they do is fabulous. But have you seen their games?” Like Ángel, all of Girona is amazed by this team that has them in its Kinton cloud, that magical nimbus that carried Goku, with G for Girona, flying wherever he wanted. And why not to the Champions League? (Despite Madrid's 0-3...)
“That, why not finish the League in a Champions League place?”, Juli Torrent (62), from Palamós – where he was a coach in the Third Division – dares to dream, a self-confessed culé member and converted Gironí, but not a subscriber to Montilivi “because there were no more seats available.” The red-and-white entity sold out the 9,700 season tickets, which do not cover the demand for seats of the 13,000 members. That is why the tickets for the match against Madrid flew out 10 days ago, and why Montilivi is one of the stadiums with the highest occupancy in Primera, at 81%. “It's amazing how they play, they're making it like a movie,” Torrent reasons.
“In my entire life I would never have imagined this: a coach has come together who is involved, who speaks in Catalan, supportive players who are a team, differential signings, a daring game, looking for verticals and diagonals…”, analyzes the former coach, that he only sees one enemy that could truncate the trajectory of this Girona: “the vertigo they may get,” altitude sickness, not getting used to living in the cloud. “Let's see, I wouldn't dare say anything, but when you have six consecutive victories in the First Division against teams that are risking their lives… it is no small thing. It's a dream that I hope lasts. No one can take all this away from us.”
And, go, how far? “If in the 70s you told me that we would be First Class leaders, I would have started laughing,” says Pere Carmaniu (73), a member “since he was 6 or 7 years old.” The man is so excited that he doesn't even dare to imagine a happy ending out loud... So Torrent lends him a hand. “Leicester… They won the Premier! Girona can make a Leicester”, the Palamosí refers to the feat of Claudio Raniri's team that won the English League in 2016, for the first time in its 132 years.
“Why not Girona? We can be up. At least, achieving a European place would be a success, but it depends on how Atlético, Sevilla, Real Sociedad go... we could still finish third, fourth, in a Champions League position. It would be…”, the man contains himself.
It would be practically a miracle to go to the Champions League for a club from a provincial capital city of just over 100,000 inhabitants. A modest entity, despite the support of the City Group (owner of 44% of the club), with the 15th budget in the League (about 59.5 million), and with a salary limit that is 13th in the championship . With these lower-middle class numbers, Girona, as its coach always remembers, should aspire to maintain the category, to only think about a fifth year in First Division.
But Montilivi's fans want more. He is proud of his team and responds en masse to help take down the giant, the foreign invader that threatens to bring them down from the cloud. A defensive feeling, of esteem for the city, deeply rooted along the Onyar since the flies from the tomb of Sant Narcís scared away the French troops in the 13th century.
The white color is a minority, caged in a corner of the stands. The charming stadium next to the university area, dyed red and white, bustling and festive with a mosaic of great occasions, roars and loudly displays its “Gironi pride.” Also his animosity towards Real Madrid, towards Florentino Pérez announced over the public address system or towards the falls, the excesses and provocations of Vinícius challenging the stands with his gaze.
The 0-2 in 21 minutes collapses like a stone and reduces the ambient decibels, but the spirit does not decline in the red and white stands, inaccessible to discouragement, fueled by the signs of faith in the comeback of their footballers, the effort and the good treatment of the ball despite the score. And, of course, infuriated by referee Pulido Santana, who did not grant a single wish to the local fans. In the end he exploded with shouts of "Whore Real Madrid" and "Murderer" at Nacho for the tackle on Portu, who had to be taken off on a stretcher with a possible serious injury.
A Girona fan that, despite bringing Madrid down to earth, lives installed in its magical cloud. The farewell with a standing ovation to his players was anthological.
