Champions League: History Beckons for Girona in the ‘City of Love’

PSG vs Girona

As opening assignments go, this must have been up there with the most eye-wateringly attractive Champions League debut they could have dreamed of.

Ok, perhaps a tie at home would have been their preference, but there’s no doubt that Girona – the side in Europe which deserved more plaudits than any other last season – have firmly arrived at the top table.

As they prepare to travel to the city of love for their first ever match in European competition, let alone the top tier, it is a moment for them to savour.

 

Talking Points

So how exactly did Girona, playing in the Spanish top flight for just the fourth time in their history, finish third in La Liga and qualify for European football, also for the first time in their history?

Make no mistake, it’s because they were simply magnificent – seeing off the likes of Barcelona and Atletico Madrid in some style along the way, all under the guidance of a Madrid boy born and bred.

Míchel took over the reins at Girona in 2021 when the club was in Spain’s second division.

Promoted at the first time of asking, consolidated with a fine 10th-place finish and then third last term, the achievement was mind blowing for a side whose stadium capacity is below 15,000 and finances dwarfed by the majority of their opponents.

But now to another obvious question: when you have scaled such heights against all expectation, how exactly do you follow that?

By delivering Champions League highlights of course!

Now let’s be fair here. Once again the club has had to say farewell to a number of key players this summer, the highest profile departure that of last season’s La Liga top scorer Artem Dovbyk.

Yet once more, the club from Catalonia has managed to put its disadvantaged position to one side and has taken seven points from its first games of the new La Liga season.

Going to Paris to face Paris St Germain is always tricky at the best of times and, coming so soon after their weekend encounter with early leaders Barcelona, it’s a tough four days for a small squad.

But Michel won’t allow that to be an issue as he and his players revelled in proving their doubters wrong time and time again last season.

Some of those doubters even turned to critics when they gained a solitary point from their first two league games matches of the campaign but, again, back-to-back victories over Espanyol and Sevilla has shown that, what they make up for in strength in depth, they certainly have in character and quality.

While any criticism of Girona is ludicrous given the level they are operating at compared to many of their counterparts, criticism has been thrown regularly at PSG in recent years and much of it is justified.

Defeated finalists in the 2020 Champions League Final, the big-spending Parisiens have never come as close to reaching the showpiece again.

Despite generally dominating Ligue 1 ever since they were taken over by the billionaires of Qatar Sports Investments in 2011, their bid to be crowned kings of Europe has proven too much – even though there was a period where they had Lionel Messi, Neymar and Kylian Mbappe in their ranks.

The obsession with so-called ‘Galacticos’ appears to have been reduced over the past year or so and earlier this week club president Nasser Al-Khelaifi said as much.

Speaking at the EA7 World Legends Padel Tour, Al-Khelaifi emphasized the club’s collective strength over individual stars, highlighting that while the team has had prominent figures in recent years, the current project is focused on collective success rather than individual dependencies.

They reached the semi-finals last term where they were firm favourites to see off Borussia Dortmund, only to lose both legs 1-0.

Whether they have enough to go one step further this season remains to be seen but it all starts against a club who, while much smaller in stature, is an example of what can be achieved regardless of wealth.

 

History

Given everything above, you won’t be surprised to hear this will be the first ever meeting between the two clubs.

 

Betting Tip

Given everything above, you won’t be surprised to know PSG are big favourites with the SBOTOP Champions League betting odds.

They are priced 1X2 @ 1.44 and Asian Handicap -1.25 @ 2.09.

Girona, meanwhile, are priced well adrift, both 1X2 @ 5.60 and Asian Handicap +1.00 @ 2.12.

The draw is on offer @ 4.32.

Given PSG have a day more to recover for this tie, as well as home advantage, it’s hard to bet against them but I do think it will be decided by the odd goal in three and my ** tip is total goal 2-3 @ 2.15.

   

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