Dwarves have the right to dream, too. And two secret ingredients to make it happen

Trust and patience.

Who knows where it could take us if only we could have it just a bit more.

Picture this. You're at the helm of a second-tier side, and hire a low-profile tactician to guide the squad into a new season. However, 12 league games and six defeats later, you found yourselves in the 19th place (out of 22), blatantly flirting with the relegation to the third division. Dreadful, isn't it? So, what do you do? Sack the coach, right... Right?!

Thankfully, Girona's sporting director, Quique Carcel, is not of that ilk. Faced with such a lousy start to the La Liga 2 season in October 2021, Carcel opted for a road less taken and decided to support Girona's head coach wholeheartedly.

Miguel Angel Sanchez Munoz, or simply - Michel, was backed by Carcel and the entire Girona board to continue his work with the modest side, comprised mainly of the likes of local, talented boys grown in the club's academy in North-Eastern Spain, not too far from their much more famous neighbouring giants, Barcelona.

Not decapitated, as 99% of his colleagues would end up after such a string of losses, Michel found the way out of that abyss. A surprising 2-1 away win at Mirandes paved the way for a slow yet apparent resurrection.

In the next 15 matches until the end of the year, Girona lost only two, and the team regained momentum and confidence. The fear of relegation was long gone, with Michel, Carcel and their boys all of a sudden shyly started dreaming of getting involved in a promotion battle. And a sensational March, embellished with four consecutive wins, along with the one on 1 April 2022, turned them into a proper contender.

However, a crisis in May arrived, and two defeats in a row seemed to have tarnished those dreams. The return game with Mirandes was approaching, and Michel's one-year contract with the option of a second year was near the end. So what was Girona's answer this time?

Trust and patience.

Two days ahead of the Mirandes tie, Michel signed a new two-year contract (until 2024) on 19 May, while his club's promotion was anything but certain.

As you probably guessed by now, Girona not only managed to beat Mirandes again but subsequently upset favourites Eibar in the promotion playoffs first round (despite being 12 points adrift of them on the table previously). Finally, Michel's gang topped other favourites, Tenerife, in the two-leg final and, thus, gained promotion to La Liga - for only the second time in the entire club's 93-years-long history.

No wonder he got himself a nickname - El Hombre Ascenso. The Promotion Man. He has pulled it off for the fifth time in his career (three as a player and two as a coach).

It was time for the deserved celebration. But the best was yet to come.

After finishing their unexcepted 2022-23 La Liga adventure successfully in 10th place, the Catalans were secretly cooking something special for the current season.

While the Royal part of Spain was overwhelmed with Jude Bellingham's arrival to Santiago Bernabeu and his magic moves and their Barca neighbours bragged about the new La Massia gem, Lamine Yamal, Michel's band of humble were digging deep in quiet, far from the spotlight.

"I don't think this team has reached its peak", the boss told his boys on the first day of pre-season in the video that became public only two days ago.

Trust and patience.

Twelve rounds into the new La Liga season - precisely two years after that calamitous second-division dead end which seemed to have been heading with Michel - Girona are sitting at the top of the table. Alone. Ahead of such colossi like Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid.

"Being leaders of Primera is not a dream. It is a reality. But we have earned the right to keep dreaming. Good night, leaders!" Girona's social media team published it on Sunday night.

It's the first time since the 2001-02 season that a club that has never won the Spanish league title is at the summit after 12 rounds (Deportivo Alaves were shortly on the top that year).

In August 2017, City Football Group (CFG), a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi United Group, purchased 44.3% ownership in Girona. Another 44.3% was held by Girona Football Group, led by Pere Guardiola. Sounds familiar? You're right because that's not a coincidence. Pere is the younger brother of Manchester City's decorated boss Pep Guardiola.

So maybe after this short story of a Spanish dwarf called Girona, we can understand better even the secret of Pep's success, too.

Trust and patience.

By: BOJAN BABIĆ