Girona 2-1 Barcelona
Following what can arguably be called the most comprehensive defeat of the Hansi Flick era against Atletico Madrid on Thursday, Barcelona were in desperate need of a response. Beyond the result, they did not get one against a stubborn Girona side.
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The game opened with a Barcelona side intent on showing that they were going to react to their harrowing loss in the Copa del Rey, running hard to close down Girona’s players. Boosted by the addition of Raphinha who returned from injury, they were not looking fluid by any teams, even if they did begin with the clearest chances of the game. Lamine Yamal curled a Raphinha cutback wide of the left post from the edge of the box, before the Brazilian hit the same spot from the left side of the area. Raphinha, cutting in, then struck the post with five minutes remaining in the first period.
Despite those chances, Girona were looking the more coherent of the two sides, as Barcelona’s high line was exploited on numerous occasions. Joan Garcia had to pull off a brilliant one-on-one stop from Vladyslav Vanat for Girona’s clearest opening of the first half. Bryan Gil and Viktor Tsygankov repeatedly attacked the space behind Jules Kounde and Gerard Martin, flashing dangerous balls across the box, begging for a recipient. On the stroke of half-time, it looked as if Barcelona would be going in ahead after Daley Blind brought down Dani Olmo, but Lamine Yamal struck his penalty off the post.
Girona climb the mountain against ragged Barcelona
Image via El Mundo.
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The second half saw Barcelona redouble their efforts again, and the first 15 minutes of the second period culminated in Raphinha striking the post again, before Pau Cubarsi headed in a Jules Kounde cross to give the Blaugrana the lead. Rather than feel the strain of the pressure and the fatigue of their own efforts, Girona seemed to up their game. Three minutes after the opening goal, Ivan Martin was given a second chance to cross by Cubarsi at the by-line, and this time he found Thomas Lemar alone with a tap-in.
From that point onwards, the middle of the pitch became a mess of sprints up and down, but one which Girona were happier about. Garcia was forced into three smart saves in the following 15 minutes, keeping Barcelona level. The dying stages saw Lamine Yamal fed the ball time and again on the right, but Barcelona were unable to find openings nor a clear avenue to trouble Paulo Gazzaniga. Girona had not given up hope of winning the game though either, and with three minutes remaining, Claudio Echeverri pursued a loose ball, and eventually it was recycled to Fran Beltran, who controlled on the edge of the box, and lasered the ball low into the bottom left corner for the lead. Barcelona furiously protested what looked like a foul on Jules Kounde, but to no avail.
That only made for an even more frantic final 10 minutes, as Barcelona launched everything and everyone into the box, including Garcia. Ronald Araujo was narrowly unable to repeat his heroics of the first meeting at the back post, before Joel Roca was sent off for a wreckless tackle on Lamine Yamal, as he went high and Axel Witsel went low. The final whistle, after much suffering, did finally arrive for a Girona that came away with an enormous three points.
Barcelona were enraged by the award of Girona’s winner, but in the cold light of the morning, Hansi Flick will be hoping their performance stings just as much as the defeat. Although they had sufficient clear chances to take all three points, Flick watched his side suffer from the exact same issues that caused their collapse against Atletico. The fear is that it might spark a larger fall, with Real Madrid now two points ahead in the table.
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On the other hand, Michel Sanchez saw reasons to be bursting with pride, in a side that balanced organised, strong defending in the second half, with a desire to damage and write their own headlines. Girona move five points away from the relegation zone into 12th, and while they only took two points from their past three games, it is 14 points from their past seven, an average that will see them enjoy the final third of the season.
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