Girona seems dead, but it's not yet

GironaA 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.

A few weeks ago, in an informal conversation, someone with decision-making power at Montilivi commented that if football were to be stripped of goals, Girona would be at the top of the standings. Perhaps they were exaggerating about the top spots, but they weren't wrong. They had valid points for many reasons: yes, the team presses well, yes, the players' synchronization is quite good, yes, the way they bring the ball out and overcome rival lines is highly effective even if it's very risky... But of course, as soon as they entered zone three – the jargon that those in the business use to define the attacking third – the lights went out. And you can't get very far that way.

The Girona team is suffering from an alarming lack of goals, which will show no mercy in relegating them if they don't do what's necessary. What happened to Metropolitano was the same as against Real Sociedad or Mallorca, to name two recent matches where they could have earned more to avoid being in dire straits. They had a lot of presence in Atlético's penalty area, but couldn't do more. The team, led in offensive build-up by Ounahi, always lacked that final touch to transform the anxiety they are starting to feel into more positive realities. The only one who sees clearly in the art of piercing nets, Cristhian Stuani, architect of the remaining survival chances, plays few minutes and does so injured, because physically he is not well. Furthermore, he had to be careful, as he had accumulated four yellow cards and a fifth would have prevented him from playing on the day they will risk it all. He came on in the 56th minute and left unharmed.

Girona had several clear opportunities, and by the 21st minute, they were already trailing, as a result of a slight defensive misjudgment by Àlex Moreno, which allowed Griezmann, honored in his last dance with his people, to set up Lookman for the 1-0. The red-and-whites were pulling their hair out, because previously Joel Roca hadn't believed in a counter-attack that left him alone right at the start, and Bryan Gil headed wide, from inside the six-yard box, after a cross from the Camprodoní native, with Oblak beaten on the far post and the goal empty. It was harder to do what Gil did than to send it in.

Chance after chance

Despite the uncertainty of what was happening in the other stadiums, and the disadvantage, Michel's team was better than Atlético, who also didn't get too serious –Pubill narrowly missed the second before half-time–, just as Real hadn't done on Thursday. But even in this way, Girona could not secure a victory. As the minutes passed, and after Ounahi tried to score the goal of his life, getting past a couple of opponents in a very small space, but bumping into a third just as he thought of executing it, or Álex Moreno and Tsygankov causing the Slovenian goalkeeper to show off his reflexes, the Catalan team already knew that, in the best of cases, they could forget about securing immediate permanence, but signing the fact of continuing to depend on themselves in the last match of the championship. If the Levante-Mallorca match didn't end in a draw, in a way, they hit the lottery.

In the second half, they maintained possession, but the opportunities were scarce. As when the Uruguayan is on the field, the associations and triangulations tried to give way to a more direct game, looking for crosses that Stuani could head without prior fanfare. There were few, certainly; the most interesting ones, again by Ounahi. Atlético left the score open on some counter-attacks in which they preferred to look for Griezmann so that the Frenchman could live the dream ending, rather than sealing the game.

As if the situation wasn't bad enough, Francés got injured, Girona had already exhausted all substitutions and had to finish the match with ten men. Fortunately, with Levante's victory, they had met the minimum objective: knowing that a win against Elche would be enough. It will be a war.

Infiltrated and untrained: This is how Stuani goes all out for Girona