Girona manager Michel Sanchez was upbeat ahead of their third ever European game, as they host Slovan Bratislava at Montilivi, despite a severe injury crisis. The Catalan minnows must appreciate where they are though, according to Michel.
He confirmed that they would be going for their first win without striker Abel Ruiz and young playmaker Gabriel Misehouy.
“We won’t recover any players. We have lost Abel Ruiz due to abductor discomfort. And Gabriel [Misehouy] can’t play either because he is registered with the B team. Marc, Arango, who are youth players, Selvi… and two goalkeepers will come from the reserve team. There are many casualties, but we have players to make a lineup. Surely we will recover players sooner rather than later,” Michel told Relevo.
Girona are coming off the back of a 1-0 defeat to Real Sociedad, and will again be missing key players in Oriol Romeu, Jhon Solis, Daley Blind and Viktor Tsygankov. Their bench is likely to be populated by youngsters.
“Everyone is fine. We just have to recover. Play and recover. We only have 12 outfield players for tomorrow plus the youth and reserve team players who will accompany us. We will make the changes thinking about the game. If we have need of them, that’s it.”
#GironaFC manager Michel Sanchez🗣️
"Playing in the Champions League with Girona cannot be just another game. I don't want to go through this competition quietly and for people not to give it the value it has.· #ChampionsLeague pic.twitter.com/feykM5yU3n
— Football España (@footballespana_) October 21, 2024
“Playing in the Champions League with Girona cannot be just another game. I don’t want to go through this competition quietly and for people not to give it the value it has. I think it has a lot of value that Girona is playing in the Champions League, a lot. But not just because of what I have done, the club has also committed to a project, people who give their lives for the entity and that has a lot of merit. I don’t know if it is truly being recognised.”
The Madrid native was keen to underline just how big of an acievement that Girona were there in the first place, although he did declare the game ‘must-win’ against Bratislava.
“From within we have the feeling that it has taken us a lot to get here, it is historic and we must value it.”
Girona can consider themselves unlucky to have lost their opening two games against Paris Saint-Germain and Feyenoord, who both beat the Catalans with late winners. Slovan are one of the other eight teams that have not picked up a point so far through two matches, and sit second-bottom with a minus eight goal difference following two heavy defeats to Celtic and Manchester City.
