BARCELONA — When Jonatan Giráldez first moved to Barcelona from his hometown of Vigo over a decade ago, he used to enjoy walks around Montjuic where the iconic Olympic Stadium, used for the Games in 1992, is located. At the time, he was going through a range of jobs — as a charity street fundraiser, a dessert chef and in department stores — to fund his dream of working in football.
A lot has changed since then. On Sunday, the Barcelona Femení coach takes his side to the 50,000-capacity Olympic Stadium to host Real Madrid in El Clásico.
After completing various coaching courses, Giráldez eventually landed a job at the Catalan Football Federation via Espanyol before becoming the women’s assistant coach at Barça in 2019. He replaced Lluís Cortés after the Blaugrana had won the treble in 2021, including a first-ever Champions League, and has continued to make the team even better, with world-record crowds flocking to Spotify Camp Nou to watch them.
