To Caesar what is Caesar’s, by Maria Tikas

Although he seemed especially calm throughout the week, Jonatan Giráldez was very pleased after coming back from the Champions League semi-finals at Stamford Bridge and get a ticket for the San Mamés grand final. His last -although never say never- great finale with Barça.

He carried everything inside, because what the team needed was for its coach to provide that “neutrality”, the Vigo’s word, that is required at the moment. That ’emotional thermometer’ that he always talks about, also when there is an excess of euphoria and overexcitement that needs to be reduced. He celebrated with all his strength – as he celebrates every goal in every training session – and with all the members of the staff, the move to the final.

Giráldez remembered his partner, Olaia, and his son, Cíes, who will soon turn one year old. They celebrated the feat in Sant Cugat, where the family has lived for a few years. And, also, the media – and popular – pressure to which he is subjected “for being Barça coach.” Of all those who punished him after the defeat – a bad game – in the first leg in Montjuïc. “Through thick and thin, it’s easy to jump on the bandwagon now… […] Sometimes the evaluations they give us are not fair. You look at the result. Not the game or how the game went.”

I don’t know a coach in women’s football – because there is no team that has the exposure and visibility that Barça has – that has had or has more pressure than the Vigo. He has been carrying this heavy backpack since he took office in the summer of 2021, almost three years ago. It was very difficult to equal or surpass what was achieved the previous season. And at the very least he was compared to Lluís Cortés. And he has done it in spades.

In fact, these comparisons are still alive today. It is something that is usually resorted to after a bad result. Like the other day. I quote verbatim one of the several comments I read: “A champion team that Cortés built has been destroyed.” Some forget that Jonatan was part of that coaching staff. What else do you have to do?

Beyond this, he was criticized for announcing in December that he would not renew and that he was going to the United States. It was said that he was “with his head in Washington and not in Barcelona” in recent months only for losing a game – by the minimum – against Chelsea, which later ended up coming back overall in the tie.

The coach is always the easy target when things go wrong, and few remember him when things go well. We can highlight many things about Jonatan in strictly football terms, such as that Barça is better every year – and this is not easy at all. But today I want to highlight the elegance that he had after the first leg, in his speech about refereeing and with Emma Hayes’ Chelsea game. You either have this or you don’t have it. And also his mental capacity to manage everything he is experiencing. The good and bad.

Three seasons in charge of the team and three Champions League finals. Almost nothing. For much less we have considered some of the best coaches of the time. And Giráldez is the best that Barça has had so far and also women’s football in recent years. This success belongs to the players and also to the coach and his coaching staff. To Caesar what is Caesar’s