Girona vs Barcelona, La Liga: Final Score 4-2, Barça collapse in second half, fall to third place

Barcelona will finish the weekend in third place in the La Liga table with four games remaining thanks to a 4-2 defeat to Girona in Saturday’s Catalan derby at the Montilivi Stadium. The game delivered plenty of entertainment and Barça had multiple chances to win it early in the second half, but a 10-minute implosion in the final period led to another heavy loss to their local rivals as Girona completed the season sweep of their famous neighbors to move to second place and guarantee a spot in next season’s Champions League.

FIRST HALF

The start of the game was absolutely wild: before fans in the stadium or people watching on TV could even settle down in their seats, two goals were scored as Andreas Christensen scored a spectacular volley and Artem Dovbyk equalized with an easy header before the clock had even hit four minutes.

Barça and Girona were wide open to begin the game and big chances were created on both ends, and each side came close on multiple occasions to scoring a second. After 10 minutes of insanity the game finally settled down a bit, with Barça taking control of the ball while Girona decided to sit back and try to create problems on the counter.

The Blaugrana moved the ball quickly and with purpose, and Fermín López, Ilkay Gündogan and Lamine Yamal offered constant threats with their movements in the final third. Girona remained a threat on the break, with Sávio making Jules Kounde’s life a living hell on the wing with his direct running and dribbling.

The pace of the game slowed down towards the end of the half, but there was still time for one more twist: Miguel Gutiérrez kicked the heel of Lamine Yamal just inside the box, and the referee pointed to the spot after being advised by VAR to look at the screen to review the play. Robert Lewandowski scored the penalty with ease, and Barça were in front once again.

A wildly entertaining first half came to an end with Barça in front, but Girona were very much still in the game and it looked as though we were in for a fun final period.

SECOND HALF

Girona naturally took the initiative to begin the second half as they looked for an early equalizer, having more possession and sending more bodies forward and forcing Barça to defend deeper. The Blaugrana remained well-organized near their box and offered a huge threat on the counter, creating and missing at least four big chances in the first 15 minutes of the period.

Míchel Sánchez made two attacking changes shortly after the hour mark to try and spark his team as they were in risk of going down by two goals, and the substitutions worked immediately thanks to some help by Barça: a terrible back pass by Sergi Roberto released Dovbyk all alone through the middle and the striker took his time to find a teammate as he squared it to Portu, who needed just 30 seconds on the pitch to score with his first touch off the bench.

90 seconds later Girona completed the comeback: Pau Cubarsí lost the ball in midfield and Portu was allowed to run all alone down the right wing until he found Miguel Gutiérrez inside the box, and the left back’s shot deflected off Jules Kounde and went into the net to put the home team in front.

Barça completely fell apart after conceding twice in less than two minutes, and even the introduction of Pedri and Raphinha off the bench didn’t help as the visitors continued to lose easy balls in midfield and concede huge chances to Girona, and Marc-André ter Stegen needed to make a big save on a shot by Yangel Herrera to stop the bleeding.

But with 15 minutes to go came the knockout blow: Sávio played a beautiful pass over the top to find Portu on the right wing at the edge of the box, and the winger continued his extraordinary substitute cameo with a spectacular volley to double his tally and the home team’s lead after a 10-minute dream sequence for Girona.

Barça were visibly impacted by the sudden turn of events, and struggled to create any meaningful offense in their attempt to get back in the game. Xavi Hernández sent on Ferran Torres and João Félix in the final 10 minutes to try and add a different element to the attack, but those changes had very little impact.

Girona cruised to the finish and missed at least three big chances to score a fifth, but Barça avoided further humiliation and the final whistle came to complete Girona’s season sweep of their famous local rivals.

The last big game of Barça’s depressing 2023-24 season ends like all the other ones did: a good first half performance, several individual mistakes that lead to a complete collapse in the second half, and a heavy, embarrassing defeat. It’s been the story of this campaign, which ends without a trophy and quite possibly with a costly third-place finish in La Liga that would be a massive blow to the club’s finances.

It’s once again not a good time to be a Barça fan.

Girona: Gazzaniga; Eric, López (Portu 65’), Blind, Miguel; Herrera, Aleix; Tsygankov (Couto 65’), Martín, Sávio (Valery 86’); Dovbyk

Goals: Dovbyk (4’), Portu (65’, 75’), Miguel (67’)

Barcelona: Ter Stegen; Kounde, Araujo, Cubarsí, Cancelo; Christensen (Pedri 69’), Roberto (Romeu 79’); Yamal (Félix 84’), Gündogan, Fermín (Raphinha 69’); Lewandowski (Ferran 79’)

Goals: Christensen (3’), Lewandowski (pen 45+1’)