El Clasico. The pair of games each year that annually draw the largest audiences and the most international media attention. Sometimes the clashes between Barcelona and Real Madrid go a long way toward determining a league champion – other times, they merely confirm one team’s dominance over the other, and thus over La Liga as a whole.
It was Madrid rallying on Saturday afternoon to win the 187th Clasico in LaLiga history, the second Clasico running to be decided by a second-half stoppage time goal. The 2-1 victory further validates Jude Bellingham as La Liga’s present star among stars – ignore for a moment that his 10 goals have come from 4.7 expected goals, he has looked ‘average’ against merely one opponent (Atletico Madrid), and his sense of the moment is as impeccable as his llegadas into the penalty area.
What an unnecessary result yesterday – so frustrating. 🤦🏻♂️ We need to take a great step now and learn from that. @FCBarcelona pic.twitter.com/XVUAegSenN
— Ilkay Gündogan (@IlkayGuendogan) October 29, 2023
Los Blancos won for the ninth time in 11 league games this season and sent Barcelona to its first defeat – after which an unhappy Ilkay Gundogan called out his teammates for not being angry enough about the loss. On Sunday, Atletico put in a professional performance against Alaves, a 2-1 win at the Metropolitano enough to lift Los Rojiblancos into third, and a point ahead of the Blaugrana.
Brutal sinceridad de Gundogan. pic.twitter.com/iOyhsv14ZM
— Bruno Bergareche (@Bergareche14) October 29, 2023
But the true winners of Clasico weekend in La Liga are the team representing a Catalan city of about 100,000 people, situated roughly 65 miles east of Barcelona up the coast.
On Friday night, Girona faced a possible banana peel as they welcomed Celta Vigo to Montilivi. Celta have been creating chances at a reasonable rate but have suffered all season from a lack of luck in front of goal. Talisman Iago Aspas has – impossibly – failed to score since March. Never mind that only Almeria and Granada have conceded more goals – Rafa Benitez’s men were competitive in an early-season home loss to Real Madrid and actually led Barcelona until the Blaugrana pulled off a ridiculous late comeback to win 3-2.
But if the pressure is getting to head coach Michel and his Girona side, they’re certainly not showing it. Girona have been seen as LaLiga’s great entertainers in 2023/24, a side that has scored at least three goals in a game on four occasions and put in five twice over the season’s opening 10 weeks. Yet I was really impressed by the way Girona ground out a 1-0 win at Cadiz three weeks ago, just before the international break. They have won away at Villarreal this season, and (a little fortunately) at the Pizjuan against Sevilla too.
So how did Girona respond to the escalating pressure and cement itself in the top four? By limiting Celta to four shots, none high-quality – although Celta were furious about being denied an 83rd-minute goal, ruled out for a foul by Carlos Dotor – and waiting to strike until the very end. In the 91st minute, City Football Group mainstay Yangel Herrera scored an absolute banger off the post to hand Girona its ninth win in 11 – just like Real Madrid, the only team that has defeated Los Albirrojos since June.
Girona continue to move from strength to strength, winning Friday despite accruing a season-low 0.62 xG and showing flexibility to move between three- and four-defender systems. It’s long past time since we gave Aleix Garcia his flowers as one of LaLiga’s top playmakers – he has played every single minute so far this season, and his assist for Herrera’s golazo was his fourth of the year already, the most decisive of his game-high 112 touches. No player in La Liga has more goal-creating actions than Aleix with 11 – exactly one per game.
Girona/CFG have compensated beautifully for the departure of key players like Santiago Bueno (sold to Wolves in a club-record deal), Oriol Romeu (back to Barcelona), Rodrigo Riquelme (back to Atletico), and top scorer Taty Castellanos (sold to Lazio). Herrera has signed permanently on a €5 million deal. New top scorer Artem Dovbyk has scored five goals in 564 minutes. Brazilian winger Savio is already among La Liga’s most exciting players at 19 years old – only Granada star Bryan Zaragoza has attempted more take-ons or completed more of them.
But Michel, the man on the touchline, has been the most important constant. His spells in charge at Huesca and boyhood club Rayo didn’t end how he wanted them to end. He’s making up for lost time as Girona – Girona! – have, pending bigger tests, emerged from the first Clasico weekend as unlikely title challengers.
“I’m very happy, it was a very complicated match against an opponent who has great players in attack,” Michel said following Friday’s win. “We controlled the game, but it was difficult for us to generate chances. Yangel scored a great goal, and we leave with a very important victory to continue in the dynamic that the team has had and we get to continue enjoying it.”
