Champions League: Emblematic start as Girona make history with their debut
Madrid (Spain): Girona become the 14th Spanish club to play in the Champions League when they make their debut in the 2024-25 edition of the competition on Wednesday. The side coached by Michel Sanchez, who last season led them to a stunning third place in La Liga, could hardly have picked a more emblematic start to their campaign, as they play away to Paris Saint-Germain.
Around 900 fans will travel to Paris to witness the historic moment, although at the moment, Girona’s domestic form is a cause for concern.
They were outplayed by FC Barcelona on Sunday, crashing to a 4-1 home defeat, engineered by Lamine Yamal.
Although PSG don’t have Lamal, they will have former Barcelona winger Ousmane Dembele leading their attack, and despite Kylian Mbappe’s move to Real Madrid, they, like Barcelona, have enjoyed a perfect start to the campaign, with four wins from four in Ligue 1, reports Xinhua.
It was a difficult summer for Girona, who in some way paid the price for last season’s success, with loan spells for Yan Couto, Eric Garcia and Savinho all ending.
Midfielder Aleix Garcia, who was back in the Spain squad for the recent UEFA Nations League games, joined Bayer Leverkusen, and top scorer Artem Dovbyk moved to Roma.
The club seems to have worked well to try to cover for the losses, with midfielder Oriol Romeu back after an unhappy return to Barcelona, while forward Arnaut Danjuma, who has European experience, was signed from Villarreal, winger Bryan Gil has joined on loan from Tottenham Hotspur, and Abel Ruiz has the tough job of replacing Dovbyk’s goals.
The Barcelona defeat is a setback for Girona, but they will look on their two previous matches, a 2-0 win away to Sevilla and a 4-0 thrashing of Osasuna, as the way ahead.
Girona’s supporters are still excited at the prospect of watching their side duel with Europe’s best, but Michel will hope that his players start to gel as a squad, otherwise it could be a difficult experience.