A huge Girona gives the big blow in Montjuïc and leaves Barça on the couch

Girona finally achieved its first victory as a visitor against Barça. With forcefulness and ample merit, the assault on Montjuïc by Míchel's team not only once again calls into question the consistency of the Barça team, but also allows them to climb back into a leadership position that, given what we have seen, is not at all a casuality. [Narrative and statistics (2-4)]

The 2-4 scoreline achieved against the Blaugrana with goals from Dovbyk, Miguel, Valery and Stuani, with Lewandowski and Gündogan, in a certain way saving the honor of the locals, was forged in a match in which control and initiative were clearly for the visitors, no matter how much Xavi's team, spurred once again by the urgency, tried unsuccessfully to remedy it throughout a somewhat more inspired second half than the first.

Girona played more and better than Barça in a first half that Míchel's men took advantage of to go to the locker room with a more than deserved 1-2. Theirs, in fact, were the first clear chances of the first 45 minutes in which, in general, the people from Girona conveyed a much neater image than the Blaugrana.

Only set pieces

Tsygankov had the first clear warning, and his, precisely, was the cross that allowed his compatriot Dovbyk to open the scoring when the first 12 minutes had barely been played. Xavi's men, for their part, tried to overcome by lurching, drawing above all on the inspiration of Pedri with complete freedom to move where he wanted.. The equalizer, however, would not come in a game action, but through strategy.

Lewandowski, with a powerful jump, headed Raphinha's corner into the net. The tie greatly encouraged a Barça that had been overwhelmed time and again by the precise play of Girona. To such an extent that Xavi's men persistently hovered around the area of a Gazzaniga capable of frustrating the most promising arrivals.. Once recomposed, however, it was Míchel's team that once again controlled both the ball and the game.

Miguel, in those moments, took advantage of the umpteenth disconnection of the Barça defense, with Koundé appearing again in the photo, to enter without opposition from the front and launch a strong shot with the outside of his left boot to seal the 1-2. Before, Iñaki Peña had managed to send another good shot from the former Madrid player to the corner and he even saw with relief how his shot was lost over the baseline after a very well-worked play by the visitors.

Protect yourself with possession

In the resumption we saw a more willing Barça. He had no choice but to at least get the tie back.. In the opening moments of the second half he approached the Girona goal again and again, but his shots, almost always bitten, hardly represented any difficulties for Gazzaniga.

Girona, always comfortable with the ball at their feet, also knew how to find a way to partially stop the Barça effervescence when the locals seemed to threaten more seriously to reach the tie. Protecting themselves with possession of the ball, the visitors began to exasperate an opponent whose time was slipping through their fingers.

And, with patience, they ended up giving it the finishing touch through Valery who sealed the duel with 1-3 and confirmed a more than deserved return to the leadership. Gundogan's 2-3 was just an anecdote, because Stuani, a survivor from the Second Division times, was ready at the far post to close the blind. Unlike Lewandowski, who was erratic on a fantastic occasion to make it 3-3, the Uruguayan did not miss his appointment with history. After two weeks of truce, with those balms against Porto and Atlético, Barça returns to the couch.