Spar Girona made life difficult in a bad way with a hard defeat against Valencia in the first leg of the semifinals in Fontajau (49-61). Therefore, if the team led by Alfred Julbe wants to be in the final of the Endesa Women’s League, it will have to go back 12 points on Thursday in La Fonteta (7 pm). The challenge is great for the women of Girona and the first step will be to turn the page to face it, although emotionally it was a very hard blow. “It simply came to our notice then. We finished the game fucked up, but now we have to look up, stop thinking about this match and face the next one “, he explains María Araújo.
The Galician winger is convinced that “we are able to play a good game in Valencia and, in fact, we have to do it to get the comeback”. “Not being able to win the first game affects the mental aspect, which needs to rest at the moment, but the team will go for it all. It will be like dying or living, that’s how we deal with it“, add.
Following Sunday’s defeat in Fontajau, it has been difficult to digest the first days of the week at Uni Girona. However, “everyone wants to get back on track”: “We don’t want to end up with such a bad feeling, after a good year. We want to regain the good feelings because, at least, if in the end we have to be eliminated it is because Valencia is better than us and not because we have not done things as well as we know how. We want to play a good game.
Going up 12 points away from Girona may seem impossible, but it is not. The women of Girona cling to the talisman of La Fonteta, where last year they celebrated the title of the Copa de la Reina and this one they have prevailed in Valencia both in the semifinals of this competition (59-67) and in the league match (55-61). Precisely, the Valencia pavilion witnessed the return of Araújo to the slopes. “They had the Fontajau factor against them and took the game by 12 points. It has nothing to do. I think if you’re up to it, so be it. In Valencia we have always had good feelings. It seems that playing there can be a positive factor for us “, he comments.
Araújo admits that “my season has been a bit erratic”, given that he returned in January due to a serious injury. “I have been adapting to the situation of the team and the team has also adapted to me. I didn’t have a steady continuum of minutes and I went from playing very little to having to do a lot because of the injuries that were there. I have been adapting. It’s not that idyllic after such a long injury, but I think and hope I was up to it when I was needed. Now I have to think about the summer and keep working, because for me this has only just begun and for the rest the league is over, ”he says. In this sense, the one in Vigo states that “I think about what’s left and in the summer because I have to work hard to be one hundred percent back”.
