With 25 athletes worth 2 of Real, Girona leads Spanish – 12/19/2023 – The World Is a Ball

The financial comparison shows the gulf between the leader and vice-leader of the Spanish Championship.

One of them has an estimated market value of more than 1 billion euros, more precisely 1.03 billion (R$5.5 billion). The other, close to a sixth of that, 161.1 million (R$861.7 million).

And whoever leads the competition, which is approaching the halfway point – there were 17 of 38 rounds – is “the other one”.

Girona, a small club from Catalonia, the same region where the powerful Barcelona are based, is the big surprise of one of the most relevant national championships in Europe.

After defeating Alavés (3-0) in their stadium, Municipal de Montlivi (capacity for 14,600 fans), the team from the city with the same name reached 44 points, two more than the giant and star-studded team Real Madrid. There are 14 wins, two draws and a single defeat.

It is surprising, since the team from the capital, which plays at the legendary Santiago Bernabéu (capacity of 81 thousand), has renowned players such as goalkeeper Courtois (Belgium), midfielders Bellingham (England), Kroos (Germany) and Modric (Croatia). , attacking midfielder Valverde (Uruguay) and forwards Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo (Brazil).

It is necessary to add the market value, according to data from the specialized website Transfermarkt, of the 25 players in the Girona squad so that there is equivalence to just two of Real’s stars, Vini Jr. (who is worth 150 million euros) and Modric (10 million ).

Each Real player, which has a squad of 24 athletes, is worth an average of 43 million euros – in addition to Vini Jr., Bellingham also has an estimated price of 150 million euros. Each Girona is worth, on average, 6.4 million.

The highlights of the Catalan team are almost unknown to most people who follow football, such as the Ukrainian strikers Tsygankov (the most valuable in the squad, 22 million euros) and Dovbyk and the Spanish David López (defender) and Aleix García (midfielder).

Or castoffs from more famous clubs, such as Argentine goalkeeper Paulo Gazzaniga (ex-Tottenham), Spanish defender Eric García (ex-Barcelona) and Dutch full-back Daley Blind (ex-Ajax, Manchester United and Bayern Munich).

Or a veteran and top striker, Christian Stuani, 37, a Uruguayan who has worn the shirt with white and red vertical stripes (similar to Atlético de Madrid’s) for six years, becoming an idol among the fans.

There are also two Brazilian starters in the team coached by Spaniard Míchel Sánchez, who are having an excellent season, both still very young: right-back Yan Couto (ex-Coritiba), 21, and left-winger Savinho (ex-Atlético- MG), 19.

Yan was called up in October by the interim coach of the Brazilian national team, Fernando Diniz, for the matches against Venezuela and Uruguay in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers – Brazil has been suffering for some time with a lack of good right-backs.

The left-handed Savinho only played for the youth national teams.

The question to be asked is: will Girona – who have Real as their only real pursuer (and for those who suffered their only defeat, a 3-0), as Barcelona, ​​third placed, are 9 points behind – have the breath to hold the front?

In the 2015/2016 season, when in England the modest Leicester City jumped ahead and the rounds went by, I disbelieved, I thought: “Paraguayan horse, one hour you’ll be left behind”.

Because Leicester showed brilliance and resilience and, in the end, they were there, at the top, comfortably (ten points more than second place), in one of the most fantastic and unexpected achievements seen in the English Championship.

After that, I refuse to despise anything in football, and it would be sensational to see Girona (founded in 1930 and whose crowning glory is the 2019 Catalan Cup) Spanish champions, breaking the hegemony of the big leagues after 20 years.

The last time the cup did not go to Real Madrid, Barcelona or Atlético de Madrid was in 2004, when Valencia triumphed, with two Brazilians in the squad, center forward Ricardo Oliveira and left back Fábio Aurélio.

In time: The world of football sometimes seems small. Pep Guardiola, in my opinion the best football coach on the planet, who heads Manchester City (current European champions), has a younger brother, Pere. Which has a role… in Girona. He is president of the Board of Directors.