Girona FC
·24 October 2024
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Yahoo sportsGirona FC
·24 October 2024
September 18, 2024 will be a day that will be engraved in Girona's history. Beyond what happens on the pitch, the Club will experience its first great European night and will do so in a luxurious setting, the Parc des Princes (21h). Míchel Sánchez's men are looking forward to a day they have been dreaming of for many months and which reflects the Club's great growth in recent seasons. The team will visit high-level stadiums during this season, such as the Phillips Stadion, the Whothersee Stadion or San Siro, in addition to receiving the visit of Liverpool or Arsenal, among others. Today, the first team will face one of Europe's top teams and a semi-finalist in the last edition of the Champions League. Their start in Ligue 1, moreover, has been undeniable, with four solvent victories that place them as sole leaders. So far they have scored sixteen goals and conceded only three. Their last home game was a 3-1 win over Stade Brest, and in the previous match they thrashed Montpellier (6-0).
The team arrived in the French capital on Tuesday and was able to have a first taste of the Parc des Princes, the venue for today's match. Yesterday afternoon, Míchel Sánchez and captain Cristhian Stuani appeared before the media to assess tonight's match. The coach praised the great merit of getting this far, and sent a message to the fans: “I ask the fans to enjoy tomorrow very much. It is a moment that is as deserved as it is historic. If we are ourselves, I will be proud of my players”. Stuani also explained that “I have no words to thank the coach for the detail he has given me. I have fought hard and I will finally get it with the club of my life, Girona”.
Luis Enrique is at the helm of the French side. The Asturian coach starts his second season after leading the Spanish national team and Barça, and he does it with the intention of repeating last season's excellent results and improving them. Through his idea, he has instilled in the team the need to live through the ball, playing from the back, he feels a very vertical and intense team in attack, with a lot of unbalance on the sides and with high pressure as a non-negotiable element. One of the most dangerous players is Barcola, a skilled winger with an excellent one-on-one, who has already scored four goals and is the top scorer. He is followed by Dembélé with three and Kang-*In and Muani with two. In addition, they have talented and proven players such as Asensio, Vitinha, Neves and Marquinhos in their ranks. Donnarumma will be absent due to injury, and his place will have to be taken by Arnau Tenas or Safonov.PSG's own names
The debut of the first team in the Champions League will be accompanied by the debut of the Juvenil A in the Youth League. The red and white youngsters will face PSG's youth team in the morning at the French team's Cité Sportif (15h) and will try to start marking the path for Míchel Sánchez's men. Despite not getting off to the best start in the league, Sergi Mora's boys will face the match with the illusion that it will also be their first time in Europe. “We feel privileged to be able to play this competition for the first time. We want to respond to this opportunity by being ambitious,” said the coach, while one of the players, Enric Garcia, explained that ‘we want to enjoy a very nice experience, but with the maximum ambition to compete as Girona has to do’. Yesterday afternoon the team was able to train at the Paris Saint-Germain Academy.
Nearly 900 Girona fans will visit Paris to experience Girona's Champions League debut and support the team from the stadium itself. The fans have responded to the historic debut in the top continental competition, and Míchel Sánchez's men will be able to feel their support at the Parc des Princes.