Perennial top scorer Cristhian Stuani cements his status as the Prince of Girona

Photo: David Ramos/Getty Images

Cristhian Stuani said he wasn’t himself, a former number 9 did what no other number 9 had done, but no one cared, not even the referee. She might have achieved her goal, she deserved it: hundreds of times, every minute of every day, on the best days of their lives. All they wanted was the chance to share with him, to embrace him: Their captain, their idol, the 37-year-old, who had only been on the field for 13 minutes, took on a rescue mission with his team on the brink of extinction. Lost for only the second time in the most extraordinary season they have seen and only able to score twice, the first in the 82nd minute and now with just two minutes left to go top. To them: Girona Football Club, leader of La Liga, for God’s sake.

There they were, everyone at Montilivi was going crazy, Stuani was running towards the corner and everyone was running after him, including their manager Michel, he was running down the wing again like he did in 2012. Are you going to throw the second one? What did it matter that instead of claiming it as he should, greedily grabbing everything he could get his hands on, insisting publicly that he had not touched the ball, the ball was accidentally cleared by the other Cristhian, the Valencia defender Camira? In fact, this was his goal; He was the one in a familiar position, the one who was there when they needed him, and that was officially his goal.

La Liga gave him this chance, there is no questionable goal panel to take him away again. Referee Javier Iglesias Villanueva also gave him his report, which was submitted to the federation, holy book, infallible and indisputable, no objection, no debate: Cristhian Ricardo Stuani (81), Cristhian Ricardo Stuani (88). As for the fans, they would give him everything; They were just happy that he was still here, that the man who deserved it more than anyone else was going through this ridiculous, unexpected experience with them. It was his 121st goal for Girona, and even if it wasn’t, that’s more than anyone else ever. “Stuani,” says Michel, “is the most important player in the club’s history.”

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Sometimes the clichés are true: When Stuani was a kid, growing up in the small town of Tala, population 5,000, he broke a window playing football at home. He was never the fastest, nor was he the most technically gifted, but he got it. He read the game better than anyone else, learned how to hide, infiltrate where defenders couldn’t see him, taught himself how to head and finish; How to be a teammate, effort is never avoided or a word out of place.

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Stuani was already 31 when he arrived at recently promoted Girona, had scored 7, 6 and 12 points in his last three seasons at Espanyol and might not be out for long. He had won the league with Danubio in Uruguay but had no intention of doing it again. He failed to score a goal in his first season with Reggina in Italy; In their second match, they were relegated. The same thing would happen at Racing Santander. He started his rise by scoring 11 goals away at Middlesbrough, but then came back again. He then scored Girona’s first goal. First episodeand 20 more followed. However, he was relegated in his second season. This was the fourth time he had fallen.

That’s why they love him so much. While chants of “Not Suárez, not Cavani, we have Stuani” were chanted, some fans called for a statue of him to be erected in Montilivi. Top scorer for two years in a row, 40 league goals spread over two seasons, scoring over 40% of the goals and either scoring or assisting over half. If there was anyone who didn’t deserve to play in the minor leagues again, it was him; If anyone didn’t have to, it was him. Clubs that were too good to be relegated came to offer him the chance to avoid relegation. One of them was Barcelona, ​​just 60 miles down the road.

But after searching for a career, Stuani found his place, a home in Girona and in Girona. Literally: He lives next to the golf course where they practice every day. He had a debt of gratitude, a determination to make it right and signed a new contract on the last day of the window. Of course it was a good thing; Girona would later admit that they could not continue paying this money for more than one season. Second, so he renegotiated the issue by spreading his salary over two extra years – but this one was bigger. There was a promise to keep.

As it turned out, it took a little longer than everyone expected. That year Stuani scored 29 goals but still couldn’t recover. Two more matches against Almeria in the semi-finals of the play-offs took them to the final and took them to 31, but he received a red card against Elche. “Hours pass and I still can’t find an explanation,” he said later. “The only thing I can do is to get back on my feet like I have done my whole life. Football impressed us a lot, but I’m sure one day it will repay us.” The following season, despite being injured, he scored 10 points; Girona lost again to Rayo in the play-off final. The year after that, he scored 22 points as they reached another play-off final. Finally, he The day had come: Stuani scored, Girona came back, his promise was fulfilled.

Not because he’s gone away, but because the job is done. He was 35 but he wasn’t done, he wasn’t kept around because they thought they owed him or there was nowhere else to go. Not then, not even now. This summer, Saudi team Abha Club came with an offer that La Razon said he “couldn’t refuse” but rejected. Michel says Stuani runs the locker room; This may sound like a platitude, but it’s not. His contribution is not that much. “What could be better than retiring in a place where you built your history and people showed you so much love?” said.

Even now it accounts for more than a third of the goals Girona have scored so far. First episode. He scored nine goals in the league last season and Saturday’s (one or) two was his (fourth or) fifth goal in just 561 minutes. Only Artem Dovbyk scored more goals; no one has a better rate. Above all, they completed a superb final half-hour and came back once again, especially thanks to the influence of sub Yan Couto, who provided both goals. Girona earned 17 points for falling behind, the momentum was irresistible when it built, the captain took them back to the top, they were partners with Madrid and ahead of the Barcelona team he refused to play in the second division.

Las Palmas 2-0 Getafe, Osasuna 1-1 Real Sociedad, Real Madrid 2-0 Granada, Athletic Bilbao 4-0 Rayo Vallecano, Girona 2-1 Valencia, Barcelona 1-0 Atletico Madrid, Sevilla 1-1 Villarreal, Almería 0 -0 Real Betis, Real Mallorca 0-0 Alaves

Looking back on his career in an interview, Stuani said: “I have never been lucky enough to play in a team that is fighting for the championship.” This was in 2018. Now, five years, a fourth relegation and many, many goals later, he took some and they gave him one, it’s really happening.

“This is a dream,” he said.

talking point

“It was fun,” said João Félix when it was finally over and he scored the goal that defeated his former team (as well as his current team). After putting the ball beautifully over Jan Oblak, he jumped onto the advertising board behind the goal and stood in front of the fans with his arms open. “I don’t know [what I was thinking]; “I think it’s a relief after everything that’s been said about me, about me as a person, about my professionalism,” he said. The whole week had been about him; it had been that way throughout the match, it was a little hint of how bad things had become in Madrid, and he had won. As he turned towards the centre, there was a hint of a kiss being blown to Atletico fans: “I’m happy for him,” Xavi said. One headline read: “João Feliz”. In other words, João Happy.

He wasn’t the only one. This was a huge deal for Barcelona, ​​perhaps a glimpse of what could have been, and they had secured a second vital win in a row after beating Porto in midweek. It wasn’t just about João Félix either: Iñaki Peña made two great saves; One of them was from Memphis Depay’s excellent free-kick heading towards the post, the other was a save from Ángel Correa in the last minute that really should have equalised. Atletico improved in the second half. Raphinha was central to their good start. Peter grew up. And Frenkie de Jong was amazing.

And yet, so it was Everything about João, a point proven even if not the spot: Diego Simeone and Antoine Griezmann both talked about consistency being the key in the end, with the coach insisting “everyone can have a good game”. This time it was João, there was a feeling of vendetta about the whole thing. He also did a pretty good job of burning his bridges with the club he owns – which he wanted, too, and later said “hopefully” Barcelona, ​​who couldn’t afford to buy him, would do it. We are trying to keep it.

“I don’t read or hear what people say,” he later said; He seemed a bit like someone who read and heard what people said, especially since it was inevitable. “Every week they talk about me, good or bad. People who aren’t in my life don’t know what really happened before, so sometimes what they say isn’t fair – but it’s normal for an actor to receive unfair criticism. We are here to play, grow and improve [make it so] “One day haters will become fans.”