“Is a Historic moment for the club after 90 years“. Are words of Diego Martínez, the coach who has led the miracle of a Granada that has happened in just two Second Division courses to challenge many of the best teams from Europe. Making continental glory compatible with the demands of the League (“what gives you food” as Diego says) is not easy. And more in times of tight calendar, three games a week, injuries, pandemic. Granada had added only two points out of 15 possible in the League. And counting the Europa League games, two wins in ten games both against him Omonia of Nicosia from Cyprus. Bad statistical figures, read like this out of the blue, that should not hide all the good things prior to the Covid outbreak detected before the match against the Cypriot team.
Granada is seventh in the standings. 12 games played, five won, three draws and four defeats. With these numbers we have made a comparison with three stellar seasons on matchday 13. And we emphasize that it is 13 and not 12 because this season the team coached by Diego Martínez has a game less compared to the official calendar.
And the comparison is interesting. We moved on to the 1971-72 season. On matchday 13 Granada was twelfth in the standings with four wins, four draws and five losses. That great team with Ñito, De la Cri, Falito, Fernández, Aguirre Suárez, Porta, Barrios or Lasa, with Joseíto as coach, finished sixth in the standings with an insurmountable milestone: they defeated the top five in the standings at Los Cármenes, know: Real Madrid (2-1), Valencia (1-0), Barcelona (2-0), Atlético de Madrid (1-0) and Las Palmas (3-0).
The second sixth place came two years later. It was in the 1973-74 campaign in the remembered League that Johan Cruyff made his debut for Barcelona against Granada at the Camp Nou (4-0). On the repeated day 13 of that year, Granada was tenth with four wins, five draws and four defeats. It followed the base of great players mentioned above to which we must add Castellanos, Montero Castillo, Quiles, Izcoa or Chikito Oruezábal. A great stage.
The third season of reference is that of last year, the return to the First Division with Diego Martínez as coach. And, of course, we are going to the famous matchday 13. Granada occupied eighth position with six wins, two draws and five defeats. It is already the recognizable Granada of Rui Silva, Neva, Duarte, Germán, Soldado, Puerta or Machís, the base of the current EuroGranada. The seventh place, his second best classification of all time in First, was the passport to the Europa League where he now makes history. The key? Job well done and the philosophy of Antonio Monterrubio, the general manager. The first job. “Step by step”. The second of collective. “We are a family”. The third sign. “Eternal fight”. This explains the success of EuroGranada.