By Alex Roberts
At the time of writing, with three rounds to play, Girona currently face the very real threat of relegation. Sitting fifteenth with 38 points from their 35 games, just four points above Leganés in the final relegation spot, it’s been a dismal season.
Their next game, a trip to already-relegated Real Valladolid, is crucial, there is no other way to put it. Win, they should be fine, lose, and coach Michel faces the mammoth task of getting his players’ heads right and prays those below them are worse.
But how did they fall so far? Well, first things first, last summer was a disaster. Savinho, who was on loan from fellow City Group club Troyes, didn’t return, and was instead shuffled around the pack to parent club Man City for a fee of around £30m.
The Brazilian was a key part of Michel’s system, scoring 11 goals and providing 10 assists in his 41 games, and he wasn’t the only one to leave. Right back Yan Cuoto returned to City before being sold to Borussia Dortmund.
Top goal scorer Artem Dovbyk joined Roma, Aleix García ended up at Bayer Leverkusen and two more loanees, Pablo Torre and Eric García both went back to Barcelona. Losing all those players is hard, failing to replace them makes the situation even worse.
Like every modern manager, Michel has a particular way of playing, wanting his players to get the ball out wide before midfielders and full backs join the fray to create overloads and pull opposition players out of position, so if Savinho goes inside, Couto goes outside and vice versa.
Dovbyk, a fairly large combative striker, would then attack the space in behind and either produce an attempt on goal or bring in a player joining the secondary line of attack. Their current crop of players doesn’t have the same profiles.
Most notably, Abel Ruiz, the man they signed to replace Dovbyk, is a completely different type of striker. Quick and nimble, he loves to drift out on to the wing before cutting inside and having an attempt on goal.
As a result of Girona’s failure to recruit the right players, their numbers have taken a nosedive. While the amount of possession has remained largely the same, last season, they created the most ‘big chances’ (131), this season, 63.
Their xG has dropped from 71.8 in 2023/24 to 39.5 this time around. It doesn’t end there, touches in the opposition box is down from 1048 to 810 and the most important stat of all, goals scored, 41 scored in 2024/25 (so far) compared to 85 in the previous season.
Cristhian Stuani is a fine player whose had a fantastic career but at 38 years of age, he shouldn’t be relied upon as Girona’s primary goal threat, yet here we are, and he’s their top goal scorer with nine LaLiga goals.
It’s a similar story elsewhere. The club signed Arnaut Danjuma on loan and Yáser Asprilla for a club record €18m, but neither have been able to even slightly replicate what Savinho did, providing just eight goal contributions between them.
It would appear their distinct lack of form has seen them both fall out of favour with neither starting more than once in Girona’s last five games. It shouldn’t be a surprise to learn that only one goal has been scored by either player in that time.
Girona used to be fearless, supremely confident that no matter who they played, they were capable of outscoring them and claiming the three points – twice beating Barcelona 4-2 in 2023/24 are testament to just that.
By design Michel is a risk-taker, happy to forego defensive solidity in search of the next goal, now they play with an anxiety so apparent it’s verging on paranoia, terrified to make that line splitting pass or a run that would break formation.
Finally, as is so often the case when less established sides qualify for the Champions League, they weren’t ready for the number of games. Bryan Gil, Donny van de Beek, Miguel Gutiérrez, and Yangel Herrera have all had lengthy spells on the sidelines, and that’s just to name a few.
Speaking after a heavy 4-0 Champions League defeat to PSV, Michel admitted the volume of games was an issue, telling reporters: “It’s very easy to make the lineup, but it’s very difficult to manage the games.
“There is always a risk of injury, we cannot do rhythmic training and we have played every three days. It’s complicated for everyone, but you have to face it with mentality and personality. The most important thing is to always be ourselves.”
It’s been a rough season for Girona but it could be worse. Being a member of the City Group means their finances should be sound, let’s not talk about the City’s alleged 115 charges, that’s a story for another time.
Results may not have gone his way recently but with Michel at the helm, they have a tactically astute coach who will doubtless be determined to make things right. It wasn’t too long ago he was touted as Pep Guardiola’s eventual successor.
For now, they need to take it game-by-game, remaining in the Spanish top flight is the absolute priority.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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