Evoking the name of Miguel Ángel González (Terrassa, 1980) at Montilivi still causes a tear or two. The former Catalan center-back was the author of the goal with which Girona returned to the Second Division almost fifty years later, on a very special matchday against Ceuta in 2008. His seven years and 249 matches at the club are summarized in that shot, which elevates him to the altar of the chosen ones. That Girona was the embryo of the Girona that would reach the Champions League. The goal turned eighteen a few days ago. So it is now of legal age.

In Girona, the name Minsu Kim (Gwangju, 2006) is on everyone's lips these days. The great performances of the pearl of the white-and-red academy during preseason, including a brace in Olot, are advocating for him to secure a place in the first team squad managed by Quique Álvarez, who already coached him in the reserves before he went on loan to Andorra last season, where he exploded in the Second Division, with 6 goals and 4 assists in 40 games. The Korean, however, is out of contract next year and has the interest of several teams on the table. If Girona, which has already started talks, doesn't act quickly, they will lose him.

The history they have built together is so strong that it is now impossible to understand Girona and Cristhian Stuani separately. Neither the relegation to the Second Division nor the economic differences, in a negotiation that has dragged on longer than expected, have managed to break a relationship that will live its tenth chapter after the Uruguayan's renewal until June 2027. The agreement is a positive shock for the enthusiasm of a team that faced the summer with desperation, because until now, at Montilivi, optimism has been conspicuous by its absence: the squad is not being cleared out and this means that new faces are taking their time.

“Girona pride helps you go further and never stop. Having three players with a past at Girona who can be starters in the World Cup final means a lot to the club. It is the result of good work, effort, and the perseverance of many people,” Santi Pou, a member of the sports management of the red-and-white entity and part of Quique Álvarez's coaching staff, assures ARA.

In the summer of 2023, l’Escala's sporting director was insistently looking for a midfielder for his new project. “When they told me his name, I didn't hesitate for a second. I had lost track of him a bit, but when we were kids, those of us who moved around the football fields, we already heard him being talked about. We had him under control,” says Toni Sánchez, the current coach of Figueres. He is referring to Izan González, one of the signings in Quique Álvarez's bid for Girona to return to First Division.

As if starting the season late had not served as a warning last year, Girona returns to work with everything to resolve. Quique Álvarez's first project on the bench maintains the squad that threw the First Division into the bin: only Izan and Pyshchur, signed before the end of the season, when no one imagined that the Second Division was a real possibility; Iván Morante (Burgos) and the return of the loaned players, with the addition of the new technical staff, bring a different joy within a club that no longer spreads optimism but rather discouragement and frustration.

The brothers Quique and Óscar Álvarez are the new coaches of Girona FC for the next season. The sporting direction, led by Quique Cárcel, trusts the reserve team's coaches for the return to Primera. A major challenge for two figures with experience in Javier Calleja's technical staff – one of the names that sounded for occupying the white-and-red bench – but who will begin their first adventure in professional football as head and assistant coach. They will be accompanied by Jordi Balcells, the physical trainer during Pablo Machín's tenure, who was also with them both in the reserve team.

Girona 2026-27 still does not have a coach, but it has already outlined a first picture of what it wants to be. There will be profound changes within a squad that will most certainly change more than 50% of its components. Consequently, new faces will arrive: the average number of signings in the Quique Cárcel era is ten to twelve per summer, and this one will be no different. The sporting director, however, must move the most important piece of all as soon as possible. This is the figure of the new coach, for the moment a question mark after some alternatives have fallen.

Twelve days after relegation to the Second Division, Girona has broken the cold and distant silence in which it had settled. It has done so without subterfuge, with most of the top officials facing the music. Such an act is not remembered at Montilivi. The president, Delfí Geli; the chairman of the board of directors and owner of 16% of the club's shareholding, Pere Guardiola; the general director, Ignasi Mas-Bagà; and the sporting director, Quique Cárcel, have conveyed an image of unity and defense of a project that will remain strong and stable despite the setback.

Míchel Sánchez is no longer the coach of Girona, after the Girona club and the coach from Vallecas have parted ways with the relegation to the Second Division. Míchel ends a beautiful spell on the bench sadly. This is the first official move by the entity, which has decided that the sporting director, Quique Cárcel, will continue to lead the project from the offices. Who will replace the man from Madrid is currently unknown. His assistants, Salva Fúnez, David Porcel, and Juan Carlos Balaguer, also leave Montilivi.

Montilivi experienced the funeral of a Girona that next season will play in the Second Division. The Gironans had to beat Elche, but they could only draw (1-1), in what could be Míchel's last game on the bench. The Vallecas native's tenure has been amazing, but it will end where it began and with a sadness that does not do justice to what has been experienced. Things will happen in the coming hours, and none of them will be good.

The definitive moment has arrived for Girona. No more half measures or nuances: Míchel's team is obliged to beat Elche this Saturday (9 p.m., Teledeporte). It is the only result that will allow them to remain in La Liga. They don't need to look at other matches, they just need a victory. A draw or a defeat will condemn them to the Second Division and save Sarabia's team, who are also playing for it. In the event of a Catalan victory, Elche will have to wait for what happens in other games to know if they stay in the elite or go down.

A critical situation for Girona, who will play for their future next Saturday against Elche at Montilivi in the final of the season. Despite extending their seventh match without a win at the Metropolitano, where they lost 1-0 despite enjoying a lot of chances, and falling into the relegation zone, being eighteenth, two points behind Elche, if Míchel's team break their poor run and earn three points on the final matchday, they will remain in the First Division. Only victory counts. It's that clear and there's no excuse, because a draw and, of course, a defeat, will condemn them to the Second Division.

The most dramatic League in memory is approaching its conclusion, especially at the bottom. With only two matchdays left and Oviedo out of the running, up to nine teams are involved in the fight for the most expensive survival in history. Two of them are Catalan: Espanyol and Girona. At the moment, Llevant and Mallorca would be relegated, both having 39 points and facing each other this Sunday. They have the same points as Elx, the first team to be safe; one less than Girona and three less than Espanyol, who have 42. Sevilla and Valencia are not yet out of danger because, in a League as crazy as this year's, no one can be sure that with 43 points you won't fall to the Second Division.

With all he has done for Girona and still had things to do. If the Gerundenses achieve permanence, it is necessary to move forward with the project of the statue of Cristhian Stuani that has been requested for years. The Uruguayan, as in Vallecas, and as so many times in nine years, appeared to draw against Real Sociedad a match that smelled of defeat (1-1). Infiltrated and without training, he has scored two goals and has avoided two defeats four days apart. With this result, the white and red team escapes relegation and is placed fifteenth, with a point's margin. And, most relevantly, it continues to depend on itself.

Once again, Cristhian Stuani came to Girona's rescue at Vallecas. The Uruguayan's shot into the back of the net in the 90th minute earned a draw for Míchel's team, who host Real Sociedad this Thursday (8 p.m., Movistar LaLiga) on a key day for survival in LaLiga. The Girona players still depend on themselves to stay up, but the situation is dire: there are a lot of teams tied with 39 points, including Girona, who could start the match in the relegation zone if the involved teams do their jobs correctly.

It couldn't be anyone else. With Girona losing after a goal by Alemao in the 86th minute and relegation getting closer, Cristhian Stuani came to the rescue for permanence in the First Division with a header in the 90th minute. The draw means the Geronians remain in seventeenth position, two points from the danger zone. There are four teams tied at 39 points, including Espanyol.

The night was dark from the start. Everything failed, in Montilivi. Well, not everything, everything except the fans. The people really knew what was at stake. Instead, Girona only realized it when they were already in deep trouble against Mallorca (0-1). Míchel's team had no response right when they could least afford to fail. The details also didn't help, because Echeverri missed a clear goal and two balls hit the post, and despite staying out of the relegation zone this matchday, it could still get much closer - now they are four points away and Sevilla plays on Monday - and the third consecutive defeat will force them to suffer until the end of the championship. They hadn't lost three games in a row since the first three matchdays of the League.

Girona does not know much about the future, pending a present that forces them to win this Friday against Mallorca at Montilivi (9 p.m., Movistar LaLiga) if they do not want serious problems in a League finale more typical of the Second Division than the First, with a lot of teams involved in the fight to avoid relegation. Míchel's men are fifteenth and have a four-point lead over Sevilla, who are in eighteenth place, the last marked in red. Seventeenth, three points behind the Geronans, the Balearic islanders also need victory at any price. The match has not even started and tension is already palpable in the city.

Girona's knot in their stomach is evident after their visit to Mestalla, where they suffered a defeat that put them in serious trouble (2-1). Míchel's team, who until recently breathed with the confidence of having salvation within reach, now see themselves four points away from the danger zone, with the involved teams still to compete this Sunday, a fact that could bring the drama even closer. Next week's Girona-Mallorca match smells like a final.