Valentin Castellanos is staying put.
The 1947 season was the last time anyone scored a haul – four goals in one match – against Spanish La Liga giants Real Madrid. That is until this past April 25 when Girona FC forward, and NYCFC alum, Valentin “Taty” Castellanos did so in front of a 13,000+ strong home crowd at the Estadi Montilivi in Catalonia.
He is now only the fifth player to perform such a Herculean task and is still shocked by it.
“I knew I wasn’t going to have many chances to score, obviously, against a really tough defense and luckily when the first ball came to me and I was able to score, it was a huge joy and gave me confidence to keep scoring to be able to try and help the team,” he said in Spanish to MLSsoccer.com this week.
On loan at Girona since last July after more than four seasons wearing Bronx blues, Taty’s good form has carried over to his team’s campaign. He’s since netted against Sevilla and Mallorca to take the Catalans to seventh on the table and in position for a Europa Conference League Qualification spot.
“Obviously what Real Madrid generates, one of the biggest teams, with the biggest audiences, it’s going to get talked about everywhere,” he said. “That helps you get motivated to keep growing and stay focused, getting that push to close well in the league and finish the season as well as possible.”
For the 24-year-old Argentinian and 2021 MLS Golden Boot winner, who scored 19 goals propelling NYCFC to its first MLS Cup title, this was a season-defining moment. Having scored his first goal in Spain back in August, it would take him another pair of months to score twice more before soccer went on break for the World Cup.
“I knew it would be tough,” he said. “When I got here, first of all to a new team, first time in Europe playing against teams that are really prepared, that fight, that work and have the goal to not go down or to get into the European places, or against guys with a lot of individual goals.”
Comparing the pressures between leagues, Taty noted that in La Liga he gets half the chances at goal that he did in MLS.
And while the new job is top priority, Taty still harbors feelings for his former club as it was a continuation of his career through the City Football Group (CFG) that started with Uruguayan side Montevideo City Torque.
“New York for me was the place I was away from home for the longest,” he said. “I was there four and a half years, played almost five seasons there, and obviously I made a lot of friends at the club, even today.
“It’s a marvelous city where I experienced a lot of beautiful things and some bad ones too, but things that stay with you as an experience. The fans really loved me and I felt their support. I still feel support from fans in New York, checking in on me, supporting me and those are the types of things that motivate you.”
His loan spell concludes at the end of the 2022–23 season and his next steps are still unclear.
“Right now, I’m enjoying things in Europe. I like it and it was something I wanted to do, come here and see how I felt. I’m comfortable here,” he said. “The Girona fans really have shown me a lot of love and that also gives you more hope to stay, the desire to stay in Europe. That’s my idea, honestly. I think I completed a cycle in MLS and would like to keep proving myself in another type of football to keep growing personally.
“I’m still here, still a New York City player. Right now it’s a question of what will happen in the future. There are still six league matches left in the season so after we’ll see, but I’m really happy here.”
No matter where he goes, his single-handed humbling of Los Blancos has guaranteed his name in the history books.
Girona FC’s main owners are the CFG, who also own NYCFC, with 47% stake and Bolivian tech entrepreneur Marcelo Claure at 35%.
This article was originally published on 90min as NYCFC’s Taty Castellanos to remain in Europe after Girona loan.
