Girona suffer double injury blow ahead of Arsenal showdown | OneFootball

Girona take on Arsenal next week in their final Champions League match of the season, during which they will hope to restore some pride after a dismal run of results in the league phase. Michel Sanchez’s side have collected points in only one game (2-0 victory against Slovan Bratislava), so they will hope to make it a second on Wednesday, although the Premier League giants are firm favourites for the win.

To make matters more difficult for Girona, they will almost certainly be without another two key players for the match at Montilivi. They are already sweating on the fitness of Miguel Gutierrez and Ladislav Krejci, and now starting goalkeeper Paulo Gazzaniga and key defender Daley Blind both picked up muscular injuries during Sunday’s La Liga fixture against Rayo Vallecano.

Paulo Gazzaniga in action during Girona’s La Liga match against Rayo Vallecano (Photo by Girona FC / X)

Blind was forced off on the half hour mark to be replaced by Alejandro Frances, and minutes later, Gazzaniga also felt his hamstring. However, Girona head coach Michel opted against making an immediate substitute as it would have meant that there was only more slot for the remainder of the match. As such, the Argentine ‘keeper stayed on until half time, at which point Pau Lopez came on in his place.

In the coming days, Girona will communicate the severity of the injuries sustained by Blind and Gazzaniga, as well as the expected lay-off period. Club officials will be desperately hopeful that both problems are minor, but even if that is the case, both players will surely not be risked against Arsenal.

Girona will be playing for pride against Arsenal after their midweek defeat to AC Milan confirmed that they cannot progress to the Champions League knockout stages. Nevertheless, the squad will be desperate to give their supporters something to cheer about, especially as it looks unlikely that qualification will be possible for next season’s competition.