Matchday 5 Review
- Callum McIlwaine
- Sep 26, 2024
- 6 min read
Girona FC Vs. FC Barcelona
Montilivi, 15 September 2024
Final Score: Girona FC 1 - 4 FC Barcelona
Our matchday 5 coverage takes us to a Catalan Derby where hosts Girona take on the league leaders Barcelona, Girona looking to regain some of their last seasons form and Barcelona looking to add to their blistering start to the league this season. The game kicked off with the intensity that we were hoping for between these two sides, last season Girona managed to pull the double over Barca in some really exciting and high scoring games, as fans, we were wanting to see that happen again. Within the first few minutes of the match, Dani Olmo had peppered the box with dangerous crosses while at the other end, Gil gave Ter Stegen in the Barcelona goal a bit of a scare with a brilliantly executed cross, unlucky that no one could get on the end of it and open the scoring. On the stroke of 15 minutes, Raphina swings in a cross towards Lewandowski who gets a free header but it is right at Gazzaniga in the Girona goal, a common them for this early stage, good opportunities, straight at the keeper. This happened at the away goal as well but was simple enough for Ter Stegen to collect the shot from Miguel. For the next 15 minutes it was end to end football. Some excellent wing play from Balde and Raphina on the Barca left which resulted in Balde wasting posession with a shot from an odd angle, Girona broke from this but luckily it didn't amount to anything. One of the better chances for Girona came at the 25 minute mark as the ball bounced in the box, Abel Ruiz misses the header opportunity but the ball lands with Tsygankov who goes for the acrobatic overhead kick, side netting you'd be surprised to hear, Ter Stegen looked comfortable enough letting it go though. Once again the partnership of Balde and Raphina teamed up to cross into the box but the ball went wide and no one was there to get on the end, goal kick. This is when the game changed, Gazzaniga passes the ball to David Lopez who tries to travel with it into his own half, only to be pick-pocketed by Lamine Yamal who robs him and turns towards the Girona net, and fires it over Gazzaniga with pace and precision for the first goal of the match. This turned the game for the home side who were looking dangerous, but this error may have opened the floodgates, 1 - 0 Barcelona. The away side wasted no time from the kick off going straight for goal again, this time Gazzaniga was up to it and handled it comfortably. Girona then went on their own counter attack, once again though, Gil fires straight at Ter Stegen, too easy for the Barcelona goalkeeper but an encouraging sign that this team wasn't going to lay down for this match. That is until a minute later, Raphina whips in a cross from a free kick, it bounces in the box and gets scrambled out, only to land at the feet of Lamine Yamal, who slots it low into the side of the net for his and Barcelona's second of the game, another defensive mistake costing Girona a goal. As the half was looking to be all but settled for the away side, in the last 5 minutes, Girona really went for it to get themselves back in before half time with a reduced deficit. Miguel crosses the ball across the box and it lands with Gil who hits it first time, but miraculously, Ter Stegen has managed to get his body in the way of the shot, very much right place right time! The excitement gets added to when in the second phase of this attack, Barcelona's Martinez was judged to have handled the ball after a cross came in and the referee blows for a penalty! The home crowd was ecstatic with the possibility of pulling one back and to potentially start their comeback as they did last season, that was until the referee was pulled over to review the VAR tape. The anxiety in the stadium was at an all time high as the referee was reviewing the footage. It was deemed then that Martinez's arm was actually in a natural position and the referee controversially (in the eyes of the home support) chalks off the penalty decision. Let's just say he wasn't the favourite person on the pitch for the Montilivi faithful and they were letting him know that as well. No Penalty. This was it for the action of the first half, the away team taking the lead of 2-0 into half time and the home side and support feeling hard done by, hopefully we get some more of this in the second half!
The referee blows the whistle to start the second half and it starts as it left off, high energy, high heat, can't wait for this one! No later than a minute into the second half, Ter Stegen plays the ball out to Kounde to travels to near the half way line and then releases Olmo who gets goalside of the defender and absolutely rifles the ball past Gazzaniga from a near impossible angle, he's settling into life at Barcelona well and he adds another goal to their already growing tally for the season. 3-0 to the visitors. The home side then try to mount an attack of their own to respond to these goals, Danjuma and Tsygankov teaming up but the shot is wide, encouraging stuff though! Truth be told, for the next 10 minutes of the game, it was total domination from the away side, they were absolutely determined to not have a repeat of last seasons games against their Catalan opponents. From attacks with Yamal looking for his hattrick to Balde playing in crosses, other than the heroics of Gazzaniga and Blind, Barca were all over Girona. This was when they decided to make some changes in their personnel, which, like Girona, made sense for the upcoming Champions League games in midweek. This was the perfect opportunity for Girona to take advantage of Barcelona's new unfamiliar shape and line up on the pitch. Tsygankov takes on Balde and manages to get past him, his shot is narrowly wide but it was a warning sign for the Barcelona players that Girona are still going to go for this game and now that they're out of position in some places, it was the time for that to be taken advantage of...is what I would be saying if not less than a minute later, the ball is played through to Pedri of all players to round the goalkeeper and slot home into an open net for Barcelona's 4th of the match. Deflated, the Girona players just tried to play their game plan and attack as much as possible, for a while they were getting nowhere, with every ball forward being intercepted and played back to players like Pedri or Yamal, the introduction of players like Stuani started to stretch the Barca defence a little but it was still a dominant display from the away team, much more alert than last season. After some excellent defensive work, Girona's break finally came, the ball is played through to Portu who takes on Ter Stegen and cuts it back to Stuani who fires home into the empty net, a great substitution and maybe a wake up for the Barca backline for the last 10 minutes of regulation play. 1- 4, maybe a consolation, maybe the start of unlikely comeback? As Girona seemed to have caught a second wind, Barcelona's Ferran Torres sees himself getting sent off in a rash tackle where he leaves his studs up on a tackle with Asprilla, the Girona player made the most of the tackle and the referee sent Torres off with a straight red card. VAR looks at it but the decision stands, this is the game that keeps on giving! 5 minutes of normal time to go and Girona now have a man advantage, Montilivi try to push their team on through these last moments of the game. Asprilla plays a defensive line breaking pass to Van De Beek, only to be met by Kounde and the offside flag but it was a brilliant bit of play, Barca line holding well in these dying moments of the game. In extra time Blind plays through to Stuani who tries to set Portu up for a finish but once again its met by the offside flag, Girona are really pushing but maybe being a little too eager. It ended up being too little too late as the referee finally blows for full time, Barcelona manage to retain their 100% record at the start of the season and avoid a repeat of last season against Girona. As upset as the home support was with the result, the party mood was on as they are now welcoming the Champions League for the first time ever as they prepare to travel to Paris St Germain mid week, not a great day for the hosts, but the future is bright!
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