The date is April 15, 2017, and the venue is El Molinón Enrique Castro Quini, home of Sporting Gijón, which is hosting league leaders Real Madrid on Matchday 32 of the 2016/17 La Liga season.
The hosts take an early lead, with Duje Cop scoring in the 14th minute, but Isco equalises for Real just three minutes later.
However, Gijón, battling relegation, frustrate the title contenders for the rest of the first half and surge in front again in the 50th minute through Mikel Vesga.
Their lead lasts a mere nine minutes as Alvaro Morata equalises for the visitors.
From thereon, Gijón shows incredible resistance, keeping Madrid at bay to fuel their hopes of survival and also foil their opponents hopes of winning the title, with Barcelona hot on the latters heels.
However, Isco scored again in the final minute of regulation to hand Real a 3-2 win, keeping them atop the table despite Barcelona winning by the same margin against Real Sociedad.
Gijón, meanwhile, ended the day 18th, five points adrift of safety.
They lost only one of their final six matches (two wins, three draws) but finished four points behind 17th-placed Leganés. Real Madrid ultimately won the La Liga title by three points, two of which came in that last-gasp draw in mid-April.
Nearly seven years on from that day, Gijón remains in Spains second tier.
They came close to securing promotion in the 2017/18 season itself after finishing fourth in the league stage, but lost 5-2 to Real Valladolid in the first round of the playoffs.
The team has since finished ninth, 13th, seventh, and 17th twice (in that order) over the last five seasons.
However, there is reason for optimism at the El Molinón this season.
Manager Miguel Ángel Ramírez, hired last January, has guided the club to fifth place in La Liga 2 after 31 matches, just four points behind second-placed Elche and seven adrift of leaders Leganés.
Gijón have the leagues third-best defence (26 goals conceded), only behind the top two.
This is in stark contrast to last season, when they shipped in 48 goals in 42 matches, including 23 in 19 matches under Ramírez.
So, what has been the key to their defensive success this season?
This tactical analysis will examine the statistical improvements Gijón has made since the second half of last season, while also analyzing Ramírezs tactics.
Miguel Ángel Ramírez Tactics
At 39, Miguel Ángel Ramírez is one of the youngest managers in Europe but already boasts oodles of experience, having been in management since his early 20s.
The Spaniard has no professional playing background and began his career in football as manager of Las Palmas U19, a role he held from 2004 to 2012, according to Transfermarkt.
This was followed by brief stints with Alavés U19 (manager), the ASPIRE Academy (youth coach), and Independiente del Valle (academy manager) until 2019.
In the summer of 2019, Ramírez was promoted to first-team manager at Independiente.
He managed them for 69 matches until December 2020, leading them to 32 wins and the Copa Sudamericana title.
Upon parting ways with the club, he joined Sport Club Internacional in March 2021, but he held the role only for three months.
The club won just 11 of his 24 matches in charge.
In the summer of 2021, Ramírez joined Charlotte FC in the USAs Major League Soccer ahead of the 2022 season.
However, once again, he lasted just 17 matches, and when he left, Charlotte was 11th out of 14 teams in the Eastern Conference.
Over six months after leaving the MLS side, he was approached by Sporting Gijón in January 2023 and took on the role.
When Ramírez joined the club, they were 15th in La Liga 2.
His first match in charge ended in a 4-0 loss to Valencia and an exit from the Copa del Rey.
Despite a 1-0 win over Real Zaragoza in his first league game in charge, they won just four more of the next 18 to finish 17th in the standings, six points clear of the relegation zone.
Despite that, Gijón chose to stick with him in the summer, and 31 league matches into this season, they have reaped the rewards of that decision.
A statistical look at Gijóns improvement this season
A glance at Gijóns performance in key defensive metrics this season shows they have improved as a defensive unit under Miguel Ángel Ramírezs pre-season coaching.
As the stat pack below shows, they are conceding fewer goals despite allowing more shots because the quality of those chances is lower, as indicated by the drop in on-target percentage.
Their passes per defensive action (PPDA), which we will explore later, has also dropped, while they are making marginally more interceptions and recoveries.
They have become more dominant in the air and slightly more disciplined.
Many of these improvements are also driven by their improvements with the ball.
A comparison of their performance across numerous metrics in this regard shows a similar improvement.
Gijón is averaging more passes per game and per possess
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