Barcelona’s Jonatan Giráldez has achieved the kind of success he never imagined, and it has only taken him three years. At 32 he has won nine of the 11 trophies available since he took over in 2021. On Saturday, as Barcelona play Lyon in the Champions League final, he can make it 10 out of 12.
One of the trophies that got away was last season’s Copa de la Reina as Barcelona were disqualified for fielding an ineligible player (needless to say they had won the game 9-0). The other one was tougher to take but now brings the team to a shot at redemption: the 2022 Champions League final loss to Lyon.
Giráldez has yet to beat Lyon but if they emerge victorious he will head to the United States after winning the quadruple in his final season. Earlier this year, Giráldez announced he is moving to the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) to manage Washington Spirit. When we meet at the Johan Cruyff Stadium he is in a relaxed mood.
“Barcelona has given me everything. It has allowed me to dedicate myself to what I love the most,” he says. “That I was able to receive a job in another country, in another context and in another club; it’s thanks to Barcelona.”
Giráldez arrived at the club in 2019 as assistant to manager Lluís Cortés. In 2021, just two days after the announcement that Cortés was leaving, Barcelona announced Giráldez would step up to replace him. In his first season as manager, they went unbeaten in the league and reached the Champions League final. “I think about what I’ve been able to give to the club, it’s been a synergy where we’ve both benefited from each other. I was a Barcelona fan even before I started working for the club and now, I will always be,” he says.
Over the past three seasons, the Catalan side have won 85 out of 88 Liga F games. In Europe Giráldez has a record of 26 wins, four defeats and two draws in 32 matches, with 112 goals scored and 32 conceded. Although the numbers make it look easy, the team has had to overcome plenty of adversity to continue in an upward trajectory. “It’s been very enriching because everyone says, ‘you’re at Barcelona, you’re used to winning.’ It’s true, but you look at it and we’ve played different every season,” Giráldez explained. “Each year we’ve changed our approach tactically.
“On a defensive front, we’ve had midfielders and wingers alike. When you change things tactically defensively, you always have something to work on in training and you become less predictable for opponents. On an offensive level, we’ve had changes every season. This season for example, we’ve prioritised the fourth midfielder as a central striker. Last season, the fourth midfielder was usually a winger.”
Lieke Martens and Jennifer Hermoso leaving in the summer of 2022 meant losing two of three starting attacking players and, in total, 254 club goals between them. Asisat Oshoala then departed midseason, taking another 117 goals with her and leaving Barcelona with no natural central striker.
“How do you adjust the team offensively to continue to produce those goals?” asks Giráldez. “How do you get Aitana [Bonmatí] closer to the goal? In her first year she was deeper and in her second, in a more advanced role. How do you maximise Caro [Graham Hansen] and Salma [Paralluelo]? How do you incorporate Lucy [Bronze] to a style of play where our right full-back has always been much lower than our left? What she has given us offensively has made us adjust different pieces on the pitch. Every season has been different on a tactical level.”
Alexia Putellas’ ACL injury in 2022 caused a significant imbalance on the pitch, forcing Barcelona into a new midfield signing. Mapi León has been injured since December 2023, leaving Barcelona without one of their defensive pillars. Cata Coll, meanwhile, came back from injury and, after a big summer with Spain at the 2023 World Cup, has taken Sandra Paños’s spot as first-choice keeper after nine years, forcing a shift in the backline.
“There is so much: putting Ingrid [Engen] as a centre-back, how would that affect Patri’s [Guijarro] position in midfield? Looking at Alexia’s injury. We signed Keira [Walsh] and we didn’t sign a player with a more offensive profile because we knew that Patri would give us a more offensive role outside of the defensive midfielder role because we knew she was capable of it.”
A team consisting of Putellas, Bonmatí and Graham Hansen did not need much elevation on a football scale, so Giráldez implemented what he thought was missing to take the team to a new prominent level; competitiveness.
“Something that defines me the most is competitiveness,” the Barcelona manager explained. “The level of competitiveness that we have risen to in the last few seasons has shown and that is fundamental. In the day to day: in training tasks, there is always a winning team and a losing team. I am one of those managers who thinks about the emotional factor and the emotional management that conditions a player.
“If you are playing matches and there is no consequence for the losing team then you are playing just to play. But if you are losing 1-0 against a team that you need to beat, then your actions will be different. The management of the pressure will be different. It’s the same for the team that’s winning.”
Barcelona proved that at Stamford Bridge in this season’s Champions League semi-final. They had to overcome Emma Hayes’ Chelsea, which had become the first side to beat Barcelona away since 2019. With a 1-0 deficit from the first leg in Spain Giráldez’s side had a mountain to climb to make their fourth consecutive Champions League final.
For the coach, this was when his team was truly tested. “We had to play the match that we played in the first leg to be able to play the match that we played at Stamford Bridge,” he says. “We made two key changes on the ball. We played with three profiles of strikers that were more of a deep threat, we put more pressure on their defensive line and that opened our game a lot more in the midfield.
“On a defensive level, we were a lot more aggressive in the high pressure. We didn’t give them time to think and to make decisions, there was a Barcelona player on top of them in every moment.”
Now for Lyon. The French side has proved to be Barcelona’s kryptonite in the Champions League with a current aggregate score of 7-2 in Lyon’s favour over the past two matches. Giráldez has been part of both those games, once as an assistant and once as a coach. The 2022 final ended 3-1 to Lyon in Turin.
“I would say that we are a team that are more adaptable than a few years ago,” Giráldez says. “Before, I think we had more difficulty to attack space against a high press. Now we’re a more capable team and feel comfortable when a team comes with an intense high press. We’re able to exploit the space behind.
“There is always motive and a challenge with each match that you play. I would say that Lyon is the biggest challenge of all. Barcelona have never beaten Lyon and we’ve already lost two finals against them. It’s a match that we are really looking forward to playing and to compete in it. We want to achieve winning the quadruple, it would be historic for the club.”
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Source: theguardian.com
