Girona is wounded and nearly sunk. The defeat against Sturm Graz dealt a heavy blow to the rojiblanco team’s hopes of continuing to dream of the Champions League. Míchel’s side remains stagnant in the standings with three points after five matchdays, and they will need a miracle to secure a playoff spot. Three matches remain, each more challenging than the last: Liverpool, Milan, and Arsenal. The matches against the two English teams will be at Montilivi, while they will travel to face the Italian side.
After the defeat against Sturm Graz, Míchel expressed his pain but aimed to convey positive messages. The goal is to uplift his players’ spirits with the strong desire that “it cannot affect us for LaLiga.” The coach discussed the classification options, admitting that “it is much more difficult, of course. There are possibilities because three matches remain, but the quality of the opponents indicates it will be complicated. We must accept that we lost a match in which we had our chances, but we are not out of the Champions League. We have to keep fighting for a dream that is still alive. This is something we cannot lose. The challenge is there, and at home, with our people, we will have to turn it around.” Regarding Liverpool, Milan, and Arsenal, Míchel refrained from commenting further, stating that “the three matches are key, and we will try to win, at least the two at home, to qualify for the next phase. There are still chances, and we need to take advantage of them, if we can.”
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On the loss against Sturm Graz, the rojiblanco coach analyzed that “perhaps we erred in our aggression with the ball to overcome a team that was continuously helping each other. We started very well and created chances, but we lacked the right pace to break down a defense like Sturm Graz’s. We were missing playing speed to reach the final third with dangerous situations. We could have gone ahead, but we made mistakes several times, especially one in the second half that severely punished us. The team tried. We had control, but not enough aggression to hurt them.” The chance missed by Iván Martín in the first half, with the score at 0-0, could have completely changed the match, but that is football fiction, as Míchel warned, without hiding that they are indeed hurting, but “it is what it is, no need to dwell on it. We couldn’t find depth, and that marked the difference.”
