It doesn’t help much to live in the past and as Míchel Sánchez commented in the press conference before the derby against Espanyol (9:00 p.m.) “history is good, but it doesn’t make you win games”, even though the three victories he has achieved by Girona in the three times it has visited the RCDE Stadium (2017-18, 0-1; 2018-19, 1-3; and 2020-21, 1-2) are relevant enough to have -take them into account The white-and-red team has gotten used to winning in Cornellà all too well. So much so, that if he leaves again today with the three points, it could almost be considered a tradition.
As the classification says, Míchel’s are in a much more comfortable situation than the parakeets. After drawing the last game of 2022 against Rayo Vallecano (2-2), Girona is 12th with 17 points, four more than Espanyol, 16th with 13 – one more than relegation. However, in Montilivi they don’t trust it at all. And right now Diego Martínez’s team is in high spirits thanks to Tuesday’s victory against Celta (3-1) to advance to the round of 16 of the Copa del Rey and the tie in the League against Barça in Spotify Camp Nou (1-1). Now, to eliminate Celta, extra time had to be played, so it will be necessary to see how the white-and-blue coach manages the physical wear and tear suffered by the squad. Espanyol will be without the injured Adrià Pedrosa and Keidi Bare and the suspended Vini Souza – sent off against Barça. While Sergi Darder will be a doubt until the last minute because he ended the cup match with discomfort.
Who will suffer a more than noticeable loss is Girona. Oriol Romeu saw the fifth yellow card against Rayo and today he will have to serve the penalty by missing the derby. The midfielder from Ulldecona, together with his compatriot Aleix Garcia, is indisputable for Míchel, having played the last twelve entire games with a goal included. His absence, however, does not worry the coach much who considers having “many possibilities” in the team to take his place. In this sense, one of the options that is gaining strength is the ownership of Ramon Terrats to pair with Aleix in the middle of the field. Although it is not the only one: Aleix can also stay alone as a pivot or Yangel Herrera can enter. The Venezuelan midfielder, who turns 25 today, has not played since before the stoppage for the World Cup following the muscle rupture in the sole he suffered last November.
Leaving aside the unknowns in the middle of the field, where there will certainly be no doubts is in the goal. Paulo Gazzaniga does not move from there, nor will Arnau Martínez and Miguel Gutiérrez on the sides or Santi Bueno and David López from the axis of the defense. Míchel will have many more resources in the attacking area, it will be necessary to see if he repeats Yan Couto’s experiment in front of Arnau on the right side or if he changes his approach a little. Taty Castellanos will remain as the main offensive reference, especially after scoring last week against Rayo and matching Cristhian Stuani as the team’s top scorers with 4 goals each. The Uruguayan striker will be one of the other attractions of the match and he already knows what it is to score a goal in Cornellà (he scored a brace in the 2018-19 season) in a very hot atmosphere on the occasion of the derby.
Apart from Romeu, Juanpe Ramírez, Ibrahima Kébé, Javi Hernández and Reinier Jesus will be out due to injury. It’s a good moment to show why in recent games Girona has deserved more.
