Girona continues dreaming of making history hand in hand with the performance of a squad that is crossing borders.
The Catalan team already has exceeded its maximum points in First Division (51, from the 2017-18 season) when there are still 17 days left to play. Something that seems incredible – and it is – but seeing the football arguments of Mchel’s men is becoming less and less surprising.
Against Sevilla, another trademark acceleration It left the Andalusians frozen and without the ability to respond to stop the rival. And in that acceleration, Artem Dovbyk once again offered a class of effectiveness facing goal scoring three goals in just six and a half minutes of play. Brutal and within the reach of few.
Dovbyk arrived quietly at Girona from Dnipro-1 a few days before the start of the league. With an imposing physique, introverted, like the majority of players from the East, with few notions of English and, obviously, no Spanish, but with the desire to take on the world already at 26 years old and with some previous adventures outside his country with he Zaria Balti of Moldavia and later with the Midtjylland and the Sonderiyske of Denmark.
“Whenever I have been asked about the adaptation of a player from the east to another country like Spain, I have been cautious. It is true that In Girona the precedent with Tsygankov was positive and the fact that his teammate is in the squad “has helped him become one more without it being a complex process,” commented the former sports director of the Dnipro academy, the Catalan Jordi Gratacs.
A striker with great technical ability
He is a great connoisseur of Ukrainian and Russian football, and the supporter of one of the sensations of the Spanish LaLiga such as Dovbyk: “He stands out for his physical corpulence but many times we tend to think that they will not be technically good or precise in their actions. He combine the two things, you can go to space, look for the third man and it does so with great technical capacity” analyzes Gratacs.
The former sports director of the Dnipro academy is aware that in Girona the planets have aligned so that the Ukrainian can develop his qualities: “Girona’s game and the coach they have helps him a lot.but he could also do well with a different style of play, on the counter and looking for spaces. Dovbyk is two forwards in one and is showing that he can excel with both styles, of course with the centers of Yan Couto, Miguel, Savinho, etc. because he takes advantage of it more easily.”
Goals of all styles
The hat-trick against Sevilla is a great example of the qualities that Dovbyk is showing in this course at Girona. The first with a header jumping more than the rival without contacting him; the second at the first touch receiving from Portu; and the third, in just six minutes, lowering a long ball and facing it diagonally against Sergio Ramos who gave him too much space and shooting at the short post far from Dmitrovic’s reach.
The Girona team Paid 7.5 million for 75% of the footballer’s rights which made the Ukrainian striker the most expensive signing in the club’s history. And it will be cheap, since media Premier sighs for him given the brutal performance that is offering in LaLiga. “I see him in an important Premier team, even a Cityor also in the important ones in Serie A. He is a player with similarities to Dusan Vlahovic, also left-handedbut I hope that he will be at Girona for many years,” explains the Catalan, who states: “In the Ukrainian market there have always been good players and in the league there the footballer has been paid well. In 2019 they managed to be under-20 world champions and talent is being worked on.”.
In search of an impossible
Dovbyktied at 14 goals with Bellingham in it Pichichi Trophy, seeks an achievement that seems forbidden to footballers who do not wear the Real Madrid and Barcelona shirts. From ForlnIn the 08-09 season, no player wins the Pichichi without playing for one of those two teams.
The last 14 Pichichis
- 22-23 Lewandowski Barcelona 23 goals
- 21-22 Benzema R. Madrid 25 goals
- 20-21 Messi Barcelona 30 goals
- 19-20 Messi Barcelona 25 goals
- 18-19 Messi Barcelona 36 goals
- 17-18 Messi Barcelona 34 goals
- 16-17 Messi Barcelona 37 goals
- 15-16 Luis Surez Barcelona 40 goals
- 14-15 Cristiano Ronaldo R. Madrid 48 goals
- 13-14 Cristiano Ronaldo R. Madrid 31 goals
- 12-13 Messi Barcelona 45 goals
- 11-12 Messi Barcelona 50 goals
- 10-11 Cristiano Ronaldo R. Madrid 41 goals
- 09-10 Messi Barcelona 34 goals
If Girona’s path to glory is dotted with historical obstacles, the one from Dovbyk towards Pichichi It doesn’t seem any less complicated. And yet, hand in hand, the club and the striker seem determined to jump all the hurdles to triumphantly reach the goal.
