Girona – Sevilla: Artem Is The Hunter In Chief (5-1)

Most matters have gone the way of Girona in a campaign that has thrilled from the first day. That tends to require a little help from the divinities— and the auspices graced the game in the form of a devastating display from their striker, who rewarded everything right with this outfit.

Tactical analysis and match report by Emmanuel Adeyemi-Abere.

A part of the City Football Group for the last six and a half years, Girona are breaking out of the sky blue shadow to strike out on their own path. At the midway mark of their second season back in the top flight of Spanish football, the club have experienced a meteoric rise and in a fight for the top spot with the two historic institutions in LaLiga. Two draws from their last three matches let Real Madrid catch up to the summit, but a return to winning ways would bring back their supremacy in this race.

Shrewd signings were the backbone of Sevilla's strength only a few years ago, but their demise has been damning in the last 18 months. Though triumph in the final of the Europa League with José Luis Mendilibar turned around a weak campaign, the turbulence has troubled them into the new year. The Andalusians are in the hands of their third leader for this campaign and only sit one point above the bottom three. Will the work of Quique Sánchez Flores offer the survivalist strategy the squad needs?

Flores felt he needed to fill out the rearguard, adding a fifth figure to the defense. Tanguy Nianzou, Loïc Badé, and Adrià Pedrosa . . .