Girona Champions League Dream Heading Towards Collapse As Liverpool Visit

On Tuesday, Girona take on Liverpool in the Champions League, knowing that it will give them a chance to put a dash on a top team before their European dream vanishes.

Before their debut in the competition, coach Michel Sanchez declared, “We have reached a place that was a dream for us, a dream that we must all enjoy,” but the Catalan minnows have quickly come to a head.

With four defeats from their first five games and one win, Girona is currently in the top 30th place in the group table.

The Girona team’s final three matches are undoubtedly their most difficult, aside from their firsing opening defeat to Paris Saint-Germain, which ended in a 1-0 defeat.

After visiting six-time champions Liverpool, they travel to Italy to face AC Milan before hosting Arsenal in their final group game.

Liverpool, under the leadership of Arne Slot, has recently defeated English champions Real Madrid and Manchester City, both of whom are English Premier League and Champions League champions. The latter was the team’s fifth consecutive victory in the Champions League.

Madrid finished third in the La Liga title race last season, but Girona held on until the season’s final stages when they lost.

In what was just their fourth season in the Spanish top flight, Sanchez’s side thrilled with their brilliant football and twice beat then title-holders Barcelona.

However, they were twice crushed by Madrid, 3-0 at home and 4-0 at the Santiago Bernabeu, in defeats which showed they were struggling to compete against the cream of the crop, even before severe summer sales set them back.

Girona lost target man Artem Dovbyk, playmaker Aleix Garcia and winger Savinho among other starters, forcing Sanchez to rebuild.

Bryan Gil, Abel Ruiz, and Donny van de Beek, who have all recently joined the team, took some time to get used to it, and the injuries have also been severe.

Resources have been stretched, with a whole XI of players being sidelined a few weeks ago, as a result of competing on two fronts rather than just La Liga.

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‘ Can’t let these goals in’&nbsp,

Although Girona have improved recently, their form appears to have come too late.

Real Madrid’s comfortable 3-0 victory on Saturday ended a four-game La Liga run that had been unbeaten.

“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”.

Some fans will view the game between Liverpool and Montilivi more as a reward for their accomplishments last season than as a realistic route to the next round, according to fans.

Sanchez insisted his team will stay focussed on progressing.

“We are not out of the Champions League, so we will have to keep fighting”, said the coach, despite their disappointing 1-0 defeat at Sturm Graz in November.

Girona, which was a member of the City Football Group, certainly gained from their connections, resources, and infrastructure last season, but their first Champions League appearance in history was still an impressive accomplishment.

Girona first made it to La Liga in 2017 and, after falling out of favor in 2019, reclaimed the top flight in 2022.

Regardless of whether their team can keep the most successful English side at bay, the visit of Mohamed Salah, Virgil van Dijk, and the Girona team will leave fans with a night to remember.

Source: Channels TV