Just like David vs. Goliath. Girona learned history well. Not the mistakes, which once again this season penalized more than the account with an undeserved defeat (2-1). Míchel’s men came up big yesterday at the Benito Villamarín stadium, beating a club rival like Betis, who are not only fighting for the top positions in the league but also have a promising start in the ‘Europa League, and fighting against the adversity of being without a coach due to expulsion with a straight red before the first half hour of play. The Girona side could have fought against that and more, but they paid dearly for inexplicably conceding: a penalty from Bernardo and a gift from Samu Saiz to Borja Iglesias meant that the green-and-white striker became the party man; I was looking forward to it after the first international.
The challenge was capital. There was more to gain than to lose. Míchel already warned before that joining Sevilla would be very good for the team. The coach remembered that he was not happy with the 7 points from 15 but he did not dare to talk about victory against a rival of the caliber of Betis. But football is capricious. And as Pellegrini said, personal individualities in favor of the collective would decide the match. Girona could have perfectly secured the victory, but individual mistakes at specific moments sent everything into ruins.
Conditioned by the eight losses that drag the squad, the coach of Girona took out the best eleven that he had at his disposal. The same as nine days earlier he had won against Valladolid (2-1). So, he went out to Villamarín with Juan Carlos in goal; Arnau and Miguel in the lanes; Santi Bueno, Bernardo and Juanpe at the center of the defense; Oriol Romeu and Aleix Garcia in midfield; and Riquelme, Reinier and Taty Castellanos in attack. The Argentine forward was once again the great offensive reference following the absence of Stuani, who continues to recover.
Villamarín is an imposing stadium. You can hear the buzz in every area of the stands and the pressure is felt long before the game starts, especially when the fans sing the national anthem a cappella. Yesterday was particularly thrilling, with 52,229 spectators – thirty of whom were from Girona -.
The match hadn’t even started and Míchel’s men already knew they would have to do a feat to score in Rui Silva’s goal. And it is that the Portuguese had not yet conceded a goal as a local. For Arnau, as if nothing. The Maresmen winger left everyone speechless when he surprised the goalkeeper with a goal early on after holding on to a pass from Miguel, who did what he wanted on the left side. How important it was to get ahead of Betis. Although the euphoria would be short-lived. Referee Ortiz Arias whistled a strict penalty in the white-and-red area and showed a yellow card to Bernardo for a fall of Rodri. The VAR directly did not even get involved. The referee made it even worse when he showed Míchel a straight red, leaving Girona without their coach for more than 70 minutes.
It would be anything but easy. But the team put up with the guy, worked well on the pitch and made Betis feel uncomfortable. Rui Silva had to make a couple of saves to keep out Santi Bueno’s header from a corner and Reinier’s shot when the Brazilian had everything in front of him to score. For his part, Juan Carlos also had to intervene although he did not suffer excessively. Rodri tested him, as did Montoya. Despite the sense of danger that Pellegrini’s arrivals could give, everything was under control.
It was necessary to hold on in the second half. With Míchel sitting next to the analysts in the press area to get a better view of what was happening on the pitch, Girona maintained an equally serious approach. Reinier cursed the post after smashing a ball into it and Riquelme couldn’t get the rebound either. The player on loan from Atlético sent a shot over the crossbar. It was clear that the attackers were the ones from Girona because Betis said little. Borja Iglesias tried the replica in an approximation, but he could not find a teammate to help him in front of Juan Carlos. The goalkeeper would be great to stop a header from Luiz Henrique and get ahead of the intentions of the Andalusians. He couldn’t do anything to stop Borja Iglesias. El Panda, who was eager to celebrate with his fans the first call-up with the Spanish national team, headed determined towards the goal after an unnecessary loss of Samu Saiz who had only recently entered the field of play by Riquelme Santi Bueno could not follow him.
The second coach Salva Fúnez, connected by phone with Míchel from the stands, put all the meat on the grill. Having more attacking players than defenders on the field, the premise was clear: to look for a draw. Vallejo bumped into Rui Silva. The striker beat it, but the equalizer was ruled out for offside. Earlier, Willian José had had the sentence.
