Portu’s brilliant burst seals Girona’s top-four fairytale in the perfect way | Sid Lowe
Michel’s team of misfits showed against Barcelona why they deserve their plaudits despite the big blue elephant in the room
Cristian Portugués Manzanera was lying on the physio’s bench, pissed off, his manager pointing at him. It was the morning of the best day of their lives and Miguel Sanchez Muñoz, Michel II of Vallecas, Prince of all Girona, had just named the team that would go down in history. This time, Yan Couto wasn’t in it and he wasn’t happy either, so the coach took him aside and explained. Which is when the Brazilian saw his teammate getting treatment. “Look at Portu,” Michel insisted, “he scores goals and I never start him. He says: ‘You’re sinking me, but okay, I’ll just go out and score again’.”
And so it was.
