Girona's Urgent European Campaign Heads to Austria

In their first European campaign, Girona has much work to do to extend their dream on the continent. Míchel's team considers every match from now until the end of the group stage as a final. While even the most optimistic fan from Ampurdán couldn't have imagined their team in the Champions League, it now requires a great leap of faith to advance to the next round.

Míchel's team is in great form, at the peak of their season, correcting their course after a shaky start in LaLiga and some bad luck in the top continental competition. After securing three consecutive victories in the domestic league, the red and whites, reminiscent of the magical team that captivated last season, will seek their second Champions League win in Austria against Sturm Graz, following a home victory over Slovan Bratislava and defeats to PSG, Feyenoord, and PSV Eindhoven. This would be a significant boost for the Catalan project.

With no room for error, the daring Girona side faces the current Austrian Bundesliga leader, a familiar opponent for Spanish teams in Europe, but with zero points in their tally, before matches against Liverpool, Milan, and Arsenal, three giants of international competition. "Living in the past is fine, but I knew we had to keep growing," Míchel recently remarked, aware that to reach the next playoff and avoid elimination, they must win at least two matches and draw another to be among the top 24 teams in the tournament.

From the recent European setback against PSV, Míchel's team regains, as they did last weekend against Espanyol, players like Tsygankov, Ivan Martín, Asprilla, Francés, Jhon Solis, Danjuma, and Krejci, all crucial for a squad that was depleted in the past month, with several youth and reserve players stepping up to rescue the Girona side. The international break, with fifteen days without club football, has been a blessing for Girona, who desperately needed to recover players and regain their form.

Sturm Graz: Scherpen; Johnston, Aiwu, Lavalee, Gazibegovic; Yalcouye, Chukwuani, Kiteishvili, Boving; Biereth and Jatta.

Girona: Gazzaniga; Francés, Krejci, David López, Blind, Miguel Gutiérrez; Oriol Romeu, Van de Beek; Tsygankov, Miovski, and Bryan Gil.

Referee: Rohit Saggi (Norway)

Time and TV: 18:45 | M+ Champions League