Without making much noise, working in the shadows and earning the respect of a dressing room like that of FC Barcelona, ??Jonatan Giráldez will complete one hundred games in charge of the first team today against Benfica (9pm, DAZN). “When I started as head coach it is a figure that I never thought I would achieve. “I am very happy with the evolution, not only on a professional level, but also as a person, which is how I like to evaluate the jobs I have had,” Giráldez explained proudly yesterday.
In his first two seasons he has collected titles, but always from the background. The Vigo coach has never liked to be in the photo and has gladly agreed to give the spotlight to his players. Some footballers who have more international impact every season. Today many are world stars and managing a dressing room like this is not an easy task, but Giráldez seems to have found a way to balance.
In this course, you will also have to deal with the change of leadership both on and off the field. On the one hand, the departure of Markel Zubizarreta has opened the doors of sports management to Marc Vivés, an old acquaintance whom Giráldez greatly appreciates. “I have always said that I consider him my professional father. He was the first person who trusted me to join the structure of the Catalan Federation, even though I was from outside Catalonia. I will always be grateful to him because he has helped me a lot,” praised the coach. A good relationship that should facilitate Giráldez’s continuity at Barça, with whom his contract ends on June 30.
Furthermore, on the green, Giráldez must manage the growing leadership of Aitana Bonmatí, whose prominence and weight in the team has increased after establishing herself as the best soccer player in the world. During Alexia Putellas’ injury, the one from Sant Pere de Ribes advanced her position on the field, multiplying her offensive records. Now that Mollet’s is back, Giráldez has found her a new position in which to shine again, returning her to the attacking zone where she began her football career.
It is not easy to deal with stars of this caliber, much less with the extremely demanding character that defines this team. A characteristic that could lead to coexistence problems (egos) if it is not carried out with the temperance that the Galician coach is demonstrating.
“We work to be the best,” recalled Mapi León in advance of the European premiere. FC Barcelona has before it the possibility of winning two consecutive Champions Leagues for the first time in its history, something that Giráldez does not want to fantasize about for the moment: “We should not think about the title now because it is too soon and it would be a mistake. ”.
Barça has played four finals, and won two, in the last five seasons. He is the current champion and the great rival to beat. “Winning gives you greater motivation to show that it was not a coincidence, that we deserve to be there,” said Mapi León. The Aragonese center confessed that despite all the successes of the Blaugrana team, she has never felt that they are the big favorites: “The first final we played was a match in which a priori we had nothing to lose. Lyon was the big team and you were the small team. Now, it’s funny, but I don’t have the feeling that we are the big one. There are very good teams and when you play against them you don’t think that you are superior, but rather doing what you have worked for.”
Barça wants to defend its throne on May 25 at San Mamés and the road begins today against Benfica, the undefeated leader of the Portuguese league. Former Blaugrana Andrea Sánchez Falcón’s team repeats in the group stage with the Blaugrana team and revisits a fiefdom of which it does not have good memories. Last season, Barça beat Benfica 9-0, the biggest win in the history of the Catalan team in European competition. Jonatan Giráldez, humble, expects a similar approach from the Portuguese, but warns: “Now they have played against Barça several times and that helps them adjust better.”