Girona coach Míchel Sánchez assured that the win against Barcelona was a success the Montjuïc derby this Sunday It would be “a total surprise” and recalled that “few rivals” approach the game against the Blaugranas thinking that they are the favorites.
Pablo Torre, Eric and the Fear Clause
“We are a very, very humble team and not at the same level. Neither in terms of structure nor in terms of the coach. We are wrong if we think that we can play against them and have to suffer on the field tomorrow because otherwise it is impossible. “I don’t expect to dominate the game” he emphasized.
He assures that it will be “a special game”, one of those that everyone loves to play, and admitted as much It is “normal” that Xavi Hernández doesn’t want Eric Garcia to play, Central defender on loan from Barcelona.
The one who will not play due to the so-called “fear clause” will be the other loan player, Pablo Torre. And if the Cantabrian is used, Girona would have to pay Barça 300,000 euros. “Not having Yangel (Herrera) and Pablo Torre is a problem. We thought about it – the opportunity to play – but it’s a lot of money. It would be a very good solution, but it can’t be,” he said in summary.
He wants his players to “be themselves.”
Míchel asked his players to “be themselves” and recalled that Barcelona is “a great team”, one of the best in the league alongside Real Madrid and Atlético de Madrid.
“We have to play a great game and make sure they are not at their level, otherwise it will be very difficult to achieve anything positive.” “We have to do everything we can to have options,” he emphasized.
In any case, the Vallecano coach admitted that his team had come at the “best time” to play Barça, with Girona co-leaders by four points over the Blaugranas.
“That doesn’t mean we have more opportunities to win than ever before. “If we play a good game we can do something positive as long as they don’t have a good day,” said the Girona coach, who believes it is time to enjoy the moment and the game. The reason?: “We didn’t have a hard time getting there and I think we might be able to play a great game, but that doesn’t mean we’re going to win that way.”
“Four points ahead, a dream”
For Míchel it is “a dream” to have four points ahead of Barcelona after playing fifteen games. We had an incredible, spectacular start to the season. “No one would have bet that we would be where we are, but Barça did well too,” he recalled.
The three keys for his team to compete against Barça are “mentality, personality and suffering”, although he is aware that the paradigm shift through a win against Barça can be important. “It would move into another dimension, it would mean seven points behind and it would have a big impact on everyone, including us.” “If we win we could make a very important leap in quality and if we lose we shouldn’t think we’re going to let ourselves fight for everything,” he said.
Adapt to Barça
Míchel admitted that he doesn’t want the game to be “one-on-one” but that Girona is a small team. “We need to know more than before how to manage without the ball and we need to know how to play these types of games,” he stressed.
When asked if the game against Real Madrid, in which his team suffered their only defeat of the season, could serve as a reference for tomorrow, Míchel Sánchez assured that this was the case. “In total. In that game we started to dominate and that hurt us.” We felt like we could beat anyone one-on-one, but these teams are relentless and we have this game on our minds. Every detail is important. It won’t be just another game because the rivals are very good. We have to take that into account,” he admitted.