Girona’s Champions League dream heading towards collapse as Liverpool visit
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Michel Sanchez's Girona are down in 30th in the 36-team table after four defeats and one win from their opening five games.
PHOTO: EPA-EFE
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MADRID – Girona host Liverpool in the Champions League on Dec 10 knowing the clash offers a chance to lay a glove on a top side before their European dream peters out.
“We have reached a place which was a dream for us, a dream that we must all enjoy,” said coach Michel Sanchez ahead of their debut in the competition, but the Catalan minnows have quickly been brought crashing down to earth.
Down in 30th in the 36-team table after four defeats and one win from their opening five games, it has become apparent that elite-level European football may be a bridge too far for Girona.
With the exception of their narrow opening 1-0 defeat by Paris Saint-Germain, the three matches remaining for Girona are arguably their hardest. After six-time winners Liverpool’s visit, they travel to Italy to face AC Milan and then host Arsenal in their last group match.
Arne Slot’s Liverpool top the English Premier League and Champions League tables, and have beaten English champions Manchester City and Spanish champions Real Madrid in recent weeks. The latter was a fifth Champions League triumph from five games.
Girona, on the other hand, are ninth in La Liga after 16 games. It was a much different story last season, when they ran Real close in the league title race until the final stages of the season.
However, they have since lost target man Artem Dovbyk, playmaker Aleix Garcia and winger Savinho among other starters, forcing Sanchez to rebuild.
It took time for new arrivals – including Bryan Gil, Abel Ruiz and Donny van de Beek – to gel, but qualifying for Europe for the first time in their history has taken its toll too. Competing on two fronts instead of just in La Liga has stretched resources, with 11 players sidelined a few weeks ago.
Girona have found some form in recent weeks, but it seems certain to be too little, too late to save their Champions League campaign.
A run of four matches unbeaten in La Liga was brought to an end by Real on Dec 7 with a comfortable 3-0 victory.
“We have to be stronger in both areas... we can’t let in these goals if we want to compete against these teams,” said Sanchez. “I saw a good attitude but we were a bit soft, with some losses of concentration.”
Fans will fill their modest Montilivi Stadium for the clash against Liverpool, which some will view more as a reward for their achievements last season, rather than as a realistic route to the next round. But Sanchez insisted his team will stay focused on progressing.
“We are not out of the Champions League, so we will have to keep fighting,” said the coach, who will be without the services of key winger Viktor Tsygankov (adductor muscle) and midfielders Yangel Herrera (calf) and Jhon Solis (ankle).
For Slot, whose side have already secured a play-off spot with a perfect start, he will have goalkeeper Alisson Becker (hamstring); defenders Kostas Tsimikas (ankle), Ibrahima Konate (knee) and Conor Bradley (hamstring); and forwards Federico Chiesa (fitness) and Diogo Jota (abdominal) unavailable as well as the suspended Alexis Mac Allister.
The injury list has not had an impact on the Dutchman’s side, who have scored 12 goals and conceded just once as they dispatched the likes of AC Milan, Bayer Leverkusen and defending champions Real.
A break in momentum – owing to the postponement of their league game against arch-rivals Everton due to Storm Darragh on Dec 7 – is also not expected the slow down the Reds, who are seeking to win each of their opening six games of a European campaign for only the second time.
In 2021-22, they won each of their first seven fixtures. AFP
