Girona manager Quique Álvarez enters Monday’s Segunda División fixture against CD Tenerife at the Heliodoro Rodríguez López facing a welcomed roster crunch, with nearly his entire squad available for selection following the conclusion of the international break and the recovery of previously injured players.
Roster Recovery Creates Selection Dilemma
With international commitments concluded and treatment room numbers dwindling, Álvarez acknowledged that configuring his matchday squad has become an agreeable challenge. According to reporting from diaridegirona.cat, only Cristhian Stuani and Jastin will remain unavailable when the team travels to the Canary Islands for the Monday night encounter, which kicks off at 9:00 PM local time.
“The players who have been away with their national teams are doing well and have been able to train for a couple or three days,” Álvarez said during his pre-match press conference. “After a long time, we have recovered players. They are not all here, but quite a few are.”
Internal Competition Raises Standards
The return of key personnel has sparked fierce positional battles across the training pitch. Álvarez noted that the heightened internal competition is precisely what a club requires at this stage of the campaign as they push to climb the standings in Spain’s second tier.
“The feeling is that there is good internal competition and we are reaching the point that any team needs to play,” Álvarez stated, highlighting how the influx of returning internationals provides tactical flexibility. “It makes me think and it’s what I want: to arrive home and say, ‘Who do I put in, this one or the other?'”
Midfield and Defensive Depth
The Girona coach specifically addressed the integration of veteran central defender David López and attacking midfielder Unai Hernández. Álvarez praised López for providing defensive organization, composure, and experience, noting that the club is successfully managing the physical issues that limited the defender last season.
Regarding Hernández, who arrived from Malgrat de Mar, Álvarez observed steady physical and technical progression. “It has been tough for him because he hadn’t played for a while and we have to control his minutes, but I see him training very well and he is getting better every time,” Álvarez said of the young playmaker. “He is a player who gives us different things between lines and in tight spaces.”
Return to the Scene of Promotion
Monday’s match marks a return to the Estadio Heliodoro Rodríguez López, the venue where Girona secured their most recent promotion to La Liga via the play-offs in June 2022. While Álvarez was not coaching the club during that promotion campaign, he acknowledged the historical resonance of the stadium.
“It is a very nice memory,” Álvarez said. “Football gives you this; there are grounds that give you bad feelings and others where you have a good memory as a team. We must not forget where we are, in Segunda, and our objective is what it is.”
Assessing the Opposition
Although Tenerife has conceded nine goals across its last three matches, Álvarez warned that the hosts remain exceptionally difficult to break down on their home turf.
“Cervera’s teams do not usually concede as much as they have in recent matches, but he has faced opponents who are doing well offensively,” Álvarez said. “It seems to me that it is a team that is doing things well and it will cost us a lot to win if we are not very good.”
Building Consistency on the Road
The fixture in the Canary Islands represents Girona’s sole away assignment amid a sequence that includes four matches at Montilivi against Albacete, Mallorca, Andorra, and Celta Fortuna. Álvarez emphasized that maintaining competitive continuity and building upon a solid defensive performance against Mallorca takes precedence over simply chasing an away victory.
“More than winning away, I give importance to having this continuity,” Álvarez concluded. “We are improving and I want that improvement to continue.”
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