With zero points after two days, the excitement of playing in the Champions League has given way to emergencies in Girona. An unknown arrives at Montilivi, a Slovan Bratislava with very little European pedigree and with the poster of a suitable victim to give the first European joy to a rarefied Girona fan who wants to recover the pleasant sensations of the previous season. But Míchel doesn’t trust appearances.
“I have seen very good things from Slovan. I am clear that we must play a great game,” said the coach about the Slovaks, a team that “has possession in their League, although in the Champions League they have been further behind, and that has differential players on the wingers and in the midfield.” Also debutants in the top European competition, Vladimír Weiss’s team, second in their League, come second to last in the continental table after being beaten by Manchester City (0-4) and Celtic (5-1).
“The Champions League cannot be just another game. “I want people to value it”
The Madrid native acknowledged that they are “in need of victory” and did not excuse himself by appealing to an infirmary with nine casualties, the last one being Abel Ruiz due to discomfort. The one from Vallecas is not worried about the irregular start to the season, with six defeats and three draws in 12 games. Everything is the same and at the same time different from last year. The idea and mechanisms are maintained, but the team is a prisoner of the lack of goals. Dovbyk is missed. The past euphoria has mutated into a forced optimism that Míchel champions with conviction, looking beyond the result. He emphasizes that his team “continues competing” without “bad faces” in the locker room. “We will have 12 field players plus the youth players. (…) Beyond the team’s moment, the classification says that we must win no matter what,” he defended.
It will no longer be the debut in the tournament, nor the debut at home, but for the coach it is just as “special.” “The Champions League cannot be just another game. I want people to value it. I don’t know if it is being recognized,” he explained. Although he does not say it explicitly, the Madrid native is worried that the moment will not be appreciated. He avoided looking at the present, with 600 tickets still to be sold yesterday, to trust in a “full” Montilivi in the second European match in its history. “Maybe now we are a team looking for salvation, but we will end up on top,” concluded Míchel who has blind faith in the group.
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