On the fifth matchday of the UEFA Champions League, SK Sturm (kick-off: 6.45 p.m.) will face last season’s surprise Spanish team, Girona. The Graz team want to get their first CL points with a “star day”, but Manchester City’s “farm team” is a strong opponent.
GRAZ/KLAGENFURT. In the fifth round, SK Sturm should get their first points in the premier class. The task will be anything but easy, as Girona is the Spanish surprise team of the previous season. Sturm coach Jürgen Säumel classifies the starting situation as follows: “The development of the team makes me positive, but at the same time you have to say that Girona is a top team and we need a star day if we want to take something with us.”
Girona got off to a somewhat bumpy start to the new season, but they recently had three wins in a row in LaLiga, which meant they climbed back up to seventh place. Coach Michel’s team also had to learn the lesson in the Champions League; they suffered defeats against PSG (0:1), Feyenoord (2:3) and PSV Eindhoven (0:4) and against Slovan Bratislava (2:0). the only victory.
Anti-fairy tale of modern Football
At first glance, FC Girona was the fairytale story of international football last year. Out of nowhere, the “Gironistes” came third in LaLiga, defying Real Madrid and FC Barcelona. However, the promotion wasn’t quite as magical as Girona has been part of the “City Football Group” since 2017, meaning it belongs to the same ownership association as Manchester City. Accordingly, the financial possibilities of the club are at stake. In addition, Girona is increasingly becoming a training club for talents who will later make it to Manchester. In the summer, winger Savinho moved to the English champions after a year in Spain. Technically, however, he was only loaned to Girona from Troyes, another team in the “City Football Group”. But the system is clearly recognizable.
Sturm has to change
The Grazers can at least not care about the structure behind the scenes for the Champions League game. Säumel emphasized the day before the game that Sturm also had to learn lessons in the first rounds, but had already come close recently against Dortmund. There will certainly be at least one personnel change at the Blackies. After regular keeper Kjell Scherpen had to undergo further knee surgery and will be out until the winter break, Daniil Khudyakov will make his starting eleven debut. Säumel said about the neo-keeper: “He did very, very well in the training sessions I was there for. He has experience in the Russian first division and is a young goalkeeper who has my full trust.”
AI tips on Girona
The Champions League season so far didn’t go quite as planned for both teams, but the statistical numbers still speak in favor of the guests. While Sturm has an average of 0.83 expected goals (xG) per game in their previous games, the Spaniards have almost double that at 1.6 xG. The unequal starting position is also reflected in the team value, the Catalans have around 217 million euros, SK Sturm not quite 70 million. The AI calculations also predict a victory for Girona, but assumes a close game with a one-goal difference.
“The spark has to jump”
Sturm has already become more than comfortable with being an outsider in the Champions League and has another ace up his sleeve at home: the fans. Around 24,000 tickets had already been sold on Wednesday morning: “The atmosphere is very special, our goal has to be that the spark jumps back to the fans and then I think it will be a really cool game,” says Säumel. Kick-off in Klagenfurt is at 6:45 p.m. and the game will be broadcast live on Canal+.
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