Girona manager Michel: Win over Barcelona shows our 'soul'

When Girona defeated Barcelona 4-2 at the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys in Barcelona, Spain on Sunday, not only did they surpass Real Madrid to lead La Liga again, the club also showed their "soul," according to manager Michel.

"The first thing to say is we are safe [from relegation] now with 41 points," Michel said after the game. "That's happened much earlier than we thought. We have made history. It was a game to be remembered, a great game between two teams looking to go for it."

Girona, which are also a Catalan club, had never beaten Barca in La Liga until Sunday. In fact, they only made it back to the top league last season after three campaigns in the Segunda Division. Artem Dovbyk, Miguel Gutierrez, Valery and Cristhian Stuani scored the four goals for Girona against Barca.

"Any football fan watching has seen two teams that had the intention to win and I think we did LaLiga a favor with the match today, playing toe-to-toe," Michel said. "I don't know [if we can win the league], but it's not the objective. We don't have the pressure on us that [Barça manager] Xavi Hernandez has."

"I am enjoying the moment. I don't know if we are in a position to win LaLiga, but we are in a position to beat any opponent," he added.

Girona have scored 38 goals, the most of all 20 La Liga clubs, in 16 games. Dovbyk, 26, from Ukraine is their No. 1 scorer. The club had very open games on the field thanks to their backs' and midfielders' superb abilities to progress forward, the incredible speed of Savio and Dovbyk's performance of working in the box.

"I don't compare us with anyone, but we play very good football," Michel said. "I receive messages from people in the game saying how much they like to watch us play. I don't know if we play the best [football in Spain], but we play very well. And, on top of that, we play with soul and passion, which is what the fans demand."