Girona and Barça fight for second place in Montilivi
The derby can be historic if the ‘gironins’ secure the ‘Champions’
BARCELONA, 3 May. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Girona FC receives FC Barcelona this Saturday in Montilivi (6:30 p.m.) in a Catalan derby with a lot at stake, as much as second place in an EA Sports LaLiga that is coming to an end and, furthermore, with the desire for revenge for a Barça lost the duel in the first round and with some ‘gironins’ who can continue making history with a qualification for the next Champions League.
Catalan derby for history. This is how they will want to remember this duel in Girona and, to do so, they must beat Barça to once again put themselves ahead in the table, recovering a second position that they have 2 points away, and seal a well-deserved classification for the ‘Champions’ on their own merits. In addition, of course, to the pride of beating the ‘culers’ again.
Emotionally, it is at stake to be the best Catalan team of the season, but in sporting terms, that runner-up position for which they are fighting – with a virtual Real Madrid winner in the absence of mathematical confirmation – will have the added prize of being able to play a title, that of the Spanish Super Cup. So there are more than 3 points at stake in Montilivi.
For Míchel’s Girona the first objective is that ‘Champions’ and, if Athletic Club loses in Getafe this Friday in the early match of matchday 34 of LaLiga, Girona will achieve the challenge without breaking a sweat, before jumping onto the grass of their fiefdom to try to defeat Xavi Hernández’s men.
The truth is that, really, what they want is to achieve that classification for themselves. That Athletic forces them to have to beat Barça, which would add more morbidity, more notoriety and more glory to a Catalan derby already with a lot of crumbs. And Barça, who lost 2-4 in Montjuïc in the first round, wants revenge.
It’s nothing personal, Xavi Hernández assured in the run-up to the duel, but something about the team. Barça does not want to stumble again against Girona and see themselves relegated to third place and be behind some ‘gironins’ who in Barcelona are going from going down very well to being seen as the new rival to beat. Waiting for an Espanyol that fights to regain its position in the elite.
Beyond being the team that put Real Madrid in the most trouble in the fight for the top of LaLiga, and that continental classification that is about to become Girona’s first presence in the Champions League, Míchel’s team He is playing a great game. And it comes from beating Las Palmas (0-2) and Cádiz (4-1), in great form and with Artem Dovbyk plugged in again in front of goal and willing to battle for the ‘Pichichi’.
In that fight to be the top scorer in LaLiga, he is fighting, among others, with Robert Lewandowski who is going from strength to strength in recent games. Without going any further, in Barça’s 4-2 win against Valencia on the last day, the Pole took the ball home after scoring a hat-trick. A victory that served to forget the 3-2 at the Santiago Bernabéu the previous day.
Regarding Girona’s absences, Míchel himself confirmed those of Borja García and Pablo Torre – due to the clause of their loan from Barça – and that of the last-minute injured Jhon Solís, with a muscle injury that will leave him about six weeks off. “He will miss the rest of the season. It is a significant loss,” Míchel acknowledged in the preview, who confirmed that, out of caution and bad feelings, captain Cristhian Stuani will also be out.
At Barça there will also be significant absences, although already known such as those of Gavi, Alejandro Balde and Frenkie de Jong, who will no longer play for the remainder of the season. The rest are, in principle, fine, although Pedri is still in the readaptation phase after injury and both Andreas Christensen and Pau Cubarsí were substituted in the last match against Valencia CF.
DATASHEET.
–POSIBLE ALIGNMENTS.
GIRONA FC: Gazzaniga; Yan Couto, Eric Garcia, David Lopez, Blind, Miguel; Herrera, Aleix Garcia; Tsygankov, Dovbyk and Savinho.
FC BARCELONA: Ter Stegen; Koundé, Cubarsí, Araujo, Cancelo; Christensen, Pedri, Gündogan; Lamine Yamal, Lewandowski and Ferran Torres.
–REFEREE: Hernández Hernández (C. Las Palmas).
–STADIUM: Montilivi.