Best work of this Girona: “It was a great game. One of the most important rivals in the world. We had to do almost everything right to get a result like this. We played a great game in all phases. We were a team with a brutal mentality to start from behind and look for the rival goal. I don’t know if it was the best game but I’m happy for the players, they deserve a night like this. Thank the people who have been amazing. We are very proud of how they carried us. A memory for Toni Villa who has had surgery. We dedicate the victory to him. He has left his leg for the team ”.
Permanence: “I don’t know if it is mathematical but we are very close to the goal. A victory like this lets you loose, there are 41 points with seven games to go. We are so close. We will continue working to add many more points. Apart from Taty’s goals, what stands out the most is his mentality. He already passed us against Barça. We are going to be a team that suffers without the ball but we need to be ourselves with the ball. It was not easy to do it and they did it with a brutal mentality. Arnau is the smartest player I have. He knows how to manage a card against Vinicius. Daddy deserves it. After turning Twitter off I’m glad she turned it back on. It’s a step forward for the player to understand that this is going on here, that we are a team that always seeks to score a goal”.
Personality of your players: “If you take the ball off your back it is impossible to progress in the game. Today we got it. They gave us a break in attack that made Real Madrid suffer. They all pushed forward knowing that they would then have to defend. We had efficiency. The first two were two goals. He gave us peace of mind. Then we talked about going for it at half-time and 3-1 hurt them. It gave us air for the rest of the game”.
Best version: “There are many parties. The other day in Barcelona in the first minutes we are a team that looks at the opponent’s face. We always try. We are very confident in our idea. The difficulty is that the rivals are very good too. But we are sufferers. The virtue of this squad is that it has the capacity for sacrifice and brutal talent”.
Vinicius: “I told the players that he was not going to disconnect, that he continues to face. Sometimes we had to need him but we were very clean. He has spades but he doesn’t disconnect and he makes 200,000 ones on ones and efforts. He is the best player in the world in one-on-one replay. When he catches the ball he goes for you. But Arnau does not disconnect either. It was a fair game. Vinicius is a great footballer”.
Special day: “Yeah. It’s not just another night, it’s a special night. Winning against Real Madrid with such a high performance are moments that you will always remember. When we achieve permanence we will continue looking for the improvement and growth of this club. We have a margin.”
Europe: “No, we look game by game. The goal is not yet mathematical. With 41 points we are very close but I don’t know how far we will go. My illusion was 53, to be the best Girona in history. I wish, but that’s a dream. Feet on the ground.”
After the press appearance, the Girona coach attended to The spar to continue analyzing the crash.
What did you say to Vinicius during the match? “He is the player with the best one-on-one and repetition of efforts in the entire world. I have told him that sometimes we have to stop him with a foul because of how good he is, but we always do it with sportsmanship. He may seem to tune out because he gesticulates a lot, but he stays plugged into his game. He’s a pretty nice guy, at least he seemed so to me the two times I spoke to him.”
Would you prefer Real Madrid to Manchester City in the Champions League final? “The headline hurt me. What I wanted to say is that I am not against Real Madrid, and that a Spanish team win the Champions League is satisfactory. My children have actually played there. One of them is still there, even. What I didn’t like was that hatred was encouraged between Real Madrid and Barcelona. I said it normally, because we belong to the City Group and its commitment to reach the Champions League. I could have ignored the question, but I preferred to be natural. We have a good relationship with Real Madrid: they sold us Miguel Gutiérrez, they gave us Reinier… My relationship with the club is very good, but we belong to the City group and if they win the Champions League it’s beneficial for us”.
How much difference is there between the Real Madrid squad and the Barça squad? “I think we all agree with Ancelotti: the difference between squads is not such as for 11 points. The thing is that Barça has been more regular. They are very good and fail very little, that’s why the difference has been noticed. The Real Madrid squad is exceptional, today they lacked players like the best goalkeeper in the world or one of the best forwards in the world”.
Will he pass on his tactics to Guardiola? “Pep is on another level, I can tell you that he has been studying Real Madrid for a long time. Both he and Ancelotti are huge, and it’s going to be a beautiful tie that’s like an early final”.
The victory against Real Madrid: “It is a victory for the players, and it allows us to go beyond those 40 points that give us peace of mind. It has been a perfect night that fills everyone at the club with pride”
On the great night of Taty Castellanos: “Fifteen days ago an opportunity against Barça failed, he received criticism and the networks were closed. Today, look what happened. I am very happy for him, because he is an ambitious footballer with goals and he managed to score all the goals he wanted. He must be careful with social networks, because they affect a lot. I prefer to avoid harmful comments.
Girona, the ideal club for Míchel: “I think it’s a bit of both: the club is looking for me because of my way of understanding football and I’ve fit in well. Last year we started badly, and even so they gave me confidence. These things make you think you’re in the right place. I enjoy a lot, and that with this job it is difficult to enjoy”.
The group that has formed in Girona: “Oriol Romeu has meant a tremendous leap in quality for the squad in this category. We have built a group with young people, and we work very well with them. They are very talented, and although sometimes they have sins of youth, it is a pleasure”.