Girona FC made history on Sunday, as their 5-2 victory over UD Almería converted them into the first ever club not named Real Madrid, FC Barcelona or Atlético de Madrid to collect at least 25 points from the first 10 matchdays of a LALIGA EA SPORTS season.
That haul of 25 points means the Catalan outfit currently sit joint-top of the table, level on points with Real Madrid and one point ahead of their regional rivals Barça. The only points dropped so far have been against Real Madrid and Real Sociedad, two Champions League teams.
The architect of this success is Miguel Ángel Sánchez Muñoz, better known as Míchel, the 47-year-old coach from Madrid who is catching the eye with his entertaining brand of attacking football. Sunday's game was his 100th in charge of Los Blanquivermells and he now boasts a record of 47 wins, 20 draws and 33 defeats. His LALIGA EA SPORTS win percentage of 44 percent is by far the best in the history of the Catalan club.
Míchel isn't taking this success for granted. He previously achieved promotion into the top division of Spanish football with Rayo Vallecano and with SD Huesca, the only other two clubs he has managed in his coaching career, but both those teams were relegated the following season and Míchel was sacked before the end of each campaign. With Girona FC, though, the story is different. After leading them to promotion in his first season in charge at the Estadi Montilivi, when they finished sixth and came up through the 2021/22 LALIGA HYPERMOTION playoffs, Míchel secured a 10th-placed finish last term. Now, the coach has this team in second position and European qualification is a true possibility.
That said, Míchel is aware that Girona FC have never spent three consecutive seasons in LALIGA EA SPORTS and achieving this is his primary objective. As he stated after Sunday's win: “The goal is to consolidate the team's place in the top flight as soon as possible. I hope we can then look upwards, but collecting points is a struggle and I want the team to understand that the daily grind is what will bring us success."
The keys to the success of Míchel's Girona FC
Girona FC's impressive start to the season is thanks to their attack more than their defence. Los Blanquivermells have netted the most goals of all teams in LALIGA EA SPORTS, with 24, while they have created the joint-second-most big chances, with 34. Considering Míchel was a prolific goalscorer during his own playing career, which he spent mostly at Rayo Vallecano, where he became the club's all-time top scorer, it isn't surprising to see his teams play with such a forward-thinking mentality.
On the defensive end, they have conceded 13 goals, only the ninth-best defensive record in the competition, as this is a team that is willing to take risks. If there is room for improvement then it would be in defence, as the coach has full confidence in what his team is achieving in attack. As he said after the win against UD Almería: “I'm not worried about the attacking phase of the game, as we can cause problems for any opponent because we have a lot of resources."
Míchel is right to point to the variety in attacking resources in his squad. While summer signing Artem Dovbyk leads the way with five goals, Girona FC's success is not about just one player. Far from it. So far, 11 different players have scored at least one goal and 10 different players have provided at least one assist.
It truly is a team effort and this is to Míchel's credit. Girona FC lost several important starters in the summer, such as Oriol Romeu, Taty Castellanos and Rodrigo Riquelme, but the Girona FC sporting department, led by Quique Cárcel, recruited well and Míchel has cooked up a feast with the new ingredients.
It truly is an exciting time for Girona FC and the fact that Míchel has a contract at the Estadi Montilivi until 2026 means that there are many more chapters still to be written in this story. The humility of the club and of the coaching staff means that securing survival remains the first priority. But, the fans are dreaming of European football and they have every right to.
