Girona signed a victory that will last forever and ever because it took away the story of good football from Barça. A triumph that elevates him to the altar of leadership, placing him “in another dimension”, as Michel said when he imagined, the day before, what it would mean to beat the champion.
The tactic
Tsygankov and Yan Couto break Barça.
Michel changed. He changed the way he played, but not his mentality. He attacked as always. But he modified the technician’s drawing of him using an unusual 4-4-2, placing the Ukrainian pair almost parallel: he paired Tsygankov with Dovbyk to disarm the Barça defense. And he tore it so forcefully that he left winning 1-2.
Girona knew how to exploit Barça’s apathy because they did not detect the arrivals from behind Tsygankov, who was paired with Christensen. That’s where Barcelona bled, as was proven in the 0-1 scoreline. Nor did Xavi’s team identify Miguel, a winger who not only plays as a winger. He has an interior soul, a midfielder and, above all, an irrepressible offensive soul.
The former Madrid player had warned twice. But Barça did not take any notice. And the third time came 1-2, revealing Frenkie de Jong and Koundé, who did not know whether to follow Sávio or chase Miguel. The Frenchman did neither one thing nor the other.
Marking to…
Dovbyk, undetectable
Dovbyk’s first shot. And Girona’s first goal. The Ukrainian striker was clever in that vertical attack play by Míchel’s team, disappearing from the radar of the Barça defense. He was not under the gaze of Araujo, who lost sight of him.
The quick play that put Girona ahead serves as an example. Long, tense and precise pass from Yan Couto for Tsygankov to gallop while his Ukrainian partner disappeared. And he looks how big it is. It seemed that Montjuïc had swallowed it, but it was a false impression because in a huge counterattack he appeared to score that goal.
He had an immediate response from the other ‘nine’. Barça’s tie came in a dead ball action. A corner kick served from the right wing by Raphinha allowed Lewandowski to vindicate himself with a powerful header to restore hope to Barça. If he didn’t get the goal because of the game, and even though Xavi’s team was intense in the pressure, it appeared through set-piece actions, taking advantage of the fact that Gazzaniga was hanging from the crossbar. But then the Pole, already at 2-3, missed a chance.
The debate
Changes that change
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Xavi ordered a triple change with 1-2. Míchel, on the other hand, was much more gradual in the way he chose substitutions. He gradually introduced the variants. First, Stuani, capital at 1-3. Then, three minutes later, Portu and Valery entered at the same time. There was a curious detail. The Vallecas coach did not want to waste time with those changes. These modifications had a brutal impact on the game that the Madrid coach had designed so well.
Stuani agreed with his coach. He picked up the aerial ball, taking away Araujo’s space and time to leave Valery in front of Koundé. And, once again, the Frenchman’s passivity allowed the score to be 1-3 for another of the changes that Míchel had introduced. And to complete the exhibition of that rondo that the coach devised in Girona to deploy in Montjuïc was summed up in Stuani’s goal, 2-4.