Season in review: Girona flies higher in what will be talked about as the halcyon days
Position: 3rd – 82 points
Class: A+
Record: 25-6-7
Goals scored: 85
Goals conceded: 46
Top scorer: Artem Dovbyk – 24
Top assists: Savio, Dovbyk, Yan Couto – 10
Story of the season
Girona picked up where they left off last season, playing swashbuckling football and outplaying their opponents. Possessing a seemingly unmatched ability to turn games around in the second half, whatever problems they had at the back were more than made up for at the other end.
While last season's top scorer Taty Castellanos and midfielder Oriol Romeu left, Savio and Artem Dovbyk meant that Girona could forget about their absences. Apart from their two games against Real Madrid, they have been a good game for all winners, and have famous victories over Barcelona twice and Atletico Madrid. It seemed the big question was when they would fall, or when the pressure would get to them, and while their away record has certainly fallen in the run-in to the final, it hasn't really.
Two goals from the account of Real Madrid, and three points behind Barcelona, this was that Girona was the winner of the season.
Explanation of the degree
Girona will play in Europe for the first time next season, after their best ever season. They could not dream better. The fact that they play delicious, fun and ambitious football made it even more enjoyable for Montilivi. Not much to say other than that, almost everything went well.
Michel Sanchez did an outstanding job ensuring his side kept their feet on the ground, and continued to play with the same devil-may-care attitude, even when the heights began to induce vertigo. It is easy to gloss over the actual work and the hard grain that they showed at times even, which is clouded by the novel, but the performances of Dovbyk, Miguel Gutierrez, Aleix Garcia, Savio and Ivan Martin were off the scale, and they dealt with a lot. even of injury. None of those names, with the exception of Gutierrez, would have been on the radar of top clubs, but Girona's players and staff did.
Outstanding moment: Difficult to choose between the 4-2 victory at Barcelona in Montjuic or Montilivi. Both were cataclysmic moments in the history of Catalan football, and brought joy similar to a title.
Key player: Aleix Garcia – this could be anyone from four to five players, but as Dovbyk gets the scoring hype, and Savio gets the assist credit, it goes to the conductor.
Seasonal surprise: Savio – no one in Spain knew about him before his arrival, and neither did Girona understand that he was so important. It took about four games to realize that they have something special, or in the words of Michel, the best talent he has ever coached.
Glass half full
Michel will be here next season, which is great. Gerona they have shown in previous seasons that Sporting Director Quique Carcel is able not only to assume losses, but also to bring improvements. That seems harder than ever, but throughout his time under Michel, Girona has continued to learn and grow despite the setbacks in the face. The fundamentals of their success show no sign of changing.
Glass half empty
There is a lot of doubt about who they will be back, and perhaps as relevant as the loss of players is the loss of time in the training camp. Girona will be pushed into the European calendar, and Michel will not have time to work on a system that needs to be fine-tuned. DovbykGarcia, Eric Garcia, Savio, Ivan Martin, Miguel Gutierrez, Yan Couto, there are a lot of question marks about their starters next season.
