Yangel Herrera saves a point and prevents Girona from panicking

GIRONAAfter ten minutes of play, Por Favor, the Montilivi cheerleader with drums, entered the north goal and saw the icy atmosphere that could be felt, rolled up his sleeves and got to work. "Today we can't fail. Not today. We have to win. Let's cheer, go on," he asked, almost demanding, the fans in the stadium, who were not convinced by what they saw with their eyes. Because Girona finds it so difficult to generate play, and feels so fragile, that it spreads to the stands. If last year the positive wave swept away everything in its path, the current dynamic is surrounding the atmosphere with doubts that travel along the path of pessimism and negativity. As for the good as in the bad, the emotions are extreme. The Girona team have saved a point in an entertaining duel: Tsygankov has made it 1-0, Iker and Marcos Alonso have turned the score around, and when panic was already looming, Yangel Herrera has appeared.

The team, of course, does not help in the least to reverse the sensations. Quite the opposite. One more day, they sinned with an alarming lack of football and did not know how to control the game even with the score in their favour. Well, if Míchel did not want uncertainty, two cups. Even the Madrid coach is beginning to be questioned by those around him for some erroneous decisions that are repeated over time. Every week he changes strikers, without any of them having continuity and without a clear criterion: two days ago, Stuani played; one day ago, Danjuma; and today, Miovski, who became a father on Friday. The Macedonian has gone, in a few hours, from being in the Hospital to running on the pitch. He had not been a starter since December.

But the most alarming thing is the lack of ideas in the construction of a game that neither encourages nor gives any sign of optimism beyond individual outbursts. And the more pages of the calendar are turned, the fewer excuses are left. The one pointed out is Oriol Romeu, although the problems are collective, because it is the whole score that creaks. Míchel has been forced to shake everything up with the 1-2 by placing Arthur, who has never come out from the beginning, and Iván Martín. The image and the rhythm have improved a little (not too much) and a point has been scratched, which is what counts.

A victory in nine games

Little by little, and with only one win in nine games, Girona is getting closer to the dangerous zone of the standings. It's true that they still have room to play, but it's already clear that if they really get into trouble and have to fight to stay up, they'll suffer hard because they're not prepared to find themselves in a situation of that magnitude. For now, the team is not comfortable with itself and does not exude any confidence.

Tsygankov's goal in the middle of the first half has not served to generate any fluidity either. When Celta decided to stretch their lines, the red-and-white defence trembled like a flan. Iker equalised to general passivity and Blind was close to making it 1-2 to his own, but Marcos Alonso did it, just after the match restarted, after an absurd penalty by David López.

Thank goodness Yangel Herrera, with an isolated shot from a corner, saved a point that allows not to make the wound too big for a team that is hurt, but for which the results obtained until winter give it a cushion that it is grateful for for not getting into real problems. For the moment.