First Girona dominated, then Real Sociedad. But there was no way to break the silence on the scoreboard. An insufficient 0-0 for Girona in their head-to-head fight with Real Madrid for the title, also for Real Sociedad, which has only won one of its last seven games in the League. It was not insufficient for football. A match as fun as it was intense, which ended with Míchel in the locker room early and with the red and whites pointing to the VAR following a goal once morest Yangel Herrara was disallowed in the first half for offside.
0
Gazzaniga, Eric Garcia, Daley Blind, Yan Couto, Miguel Gutierrez, Iván Martín (Pablo Torre, min. 70), Tsygankov (Valery Fernández, min. 79), Yangel Herrera, Aleix García (Jhon Solís, min. 80), Sávio and Portu (Stuani, min. 70)
0
Remiro, Jon Pacheco, Zubeldia, Álvaro Odriozola (Jon Aramburu, min. 3), Javi Galán, Martín Zubimendi, Sheraldo Becker (Barrenetxea, min. 52), Oyarzabal (undefined, min. 93), Beñat Turrientes (Merino, min. 52), Brais (Jon Ander Olasagasti, min. 86) and André Silva (Sadiq, min. 86)
Goals
Referee Jesus Gil Manzano
Yellow cards Beñat Turrientes (min. 21), Alguacil (min. 46), Zubeldia (min. 63), Yangel Herrera (min. 87) and Daley Blind (min. 97)
red cards Sánchez (min. 88)
If the Premier sneaks onto television around the world by creating an authentic Super League, full of superstars and super coaches, Spain keeps two treasures without so much noise or glamour: one, in San Sebastián; the other, in Girona. And when they meet, the result cannot be other than a match as electric as it is tactical, essentially well played. From the outset, La Real showed their fangs. As soon as Girona let the ball roll, Imanol’s boys came out gunned down to bite the red and whites. Míchel accepted the one-on-one duel across the entire field that Imanol had devised. In exchange, to avoid the overwhelming pressure of Real, Girona opted for the mobility of Portu instead of Stuani to replace the sore Dovbyk.
Not even Odriozola’s injury, when the duel was taking its toll, made Real back down. Neither does the work that accumulates in his legs, leader of the group in the Champions League (PSG expects it in the round of 16), in the semifinals of the Cup (Mallorca expects it), clinging, in any case, to the Europa League places in the league. But Real never runs out of gas. And Girona tried, always with the ball as a knife. However, although Yangel Herrera and Aleix García managed to stop the mobile and elusive Oyarzabal and Brais Méndez, Girona had a hard time breaking the Txuri-Urdin defence. In fact, it took until the 15th minute to find Remiro following a direct foul from Tsygankov.
There was no noise in the goals, but on the field. Girona and Real shared the fast pace, but it was the rojiblancos who took over the game. So, faced with Girona’s precision in speed, Real had no choice but to stop the red and whites with fouls (14 in the first half; 19 in total). It was, as almost always, Savinho who lifted up the dedicated Girona fans in Montilivi. A beautiful play by the winger ended with the ball in the net following Yangel Herrera’s tackle. However, following following the advice of the VAR, the referee disallowed the midfielder’s goal for an offside that had occurred 37 seconds earlier. The same luck, in any case, took Oyarzabal’s goal following Gazzaniga’s poor clearance.
La Real was not willing to get carried away in Montilivi. At least, Imanol was not going to make it easy for Míchel. After passing through the locker room, Real not only bit into the Girona field but also stood with the ball near Gazzaniga’s area. The ball had already changed owners in Montilivi. But the duel did not slow down. And while Imanol had already made three changes when the clock showed 52 minutes, Míchel let more than an hour pass to shake up the eleven: Pablo Torre and Stuani for Iván Martín and Portu. New plan from the coach, now without the ball as a compass, because now he wanted a classic 9 like Stuani.
The Uruguayan did not appear, although Remiro did appear to silence Yangel Herrera once more. Before, in the other goal, Gazzaniga had excelled once morest Brais Méndez. After Barrenetxea scared and frightened the red and white defense, at the end of the duel it was Yan Couto, also on the wing, who attacked the Real area. There was no case. Neither for Real nor for Girona.
Míchel’s men have no choice but to pray to Simeone while waiting to visit Real Madrid next week, the only team they lost to in the League, the only team, also, that they are ahead of in the table.
