Girona may have gotten a little lost in the headlines on Tuesday night after Real Madrid’s comeback over Borussia Dortmund, but the Catalan minnows got their first ever European win over Slovan Bratislava, coming out with a 2-0 win. It was an historic occasion at Montilivi, and an emotional one too.
Things did not start off well, with Ivan Martin going down with a muscle problem after just half an hour. He was replaced by Bojan Miovski, and is a major doubt for at least their clash against Las Palmas this weekend. Michel Sanchez only had 12 outfield players to select from for the Slovan tie, and while he will have Gabriel Misehouy available, Donny van de Beek also picked up an injury. The Dutchman told Michel he was ’50-50′ on his injury.
Stuani, en estat pur: la xerrada prèvia al vestidor, també per a la història #TotGiraCatRàdio [2/3] pic.twitter.com/HwtIxPIjJM
— Catalunya Ràdio (@CatalunyaRadio) October 23, 2024
Nevertheless that all faded into the background by the end of the match, as Miguel Gutierrez and Juanpe scored the crucial goals. It is no surprise that Girona came out fired up, after a rousing speech from captain Cristhian Stuani before the game.
“Girona go for it, and today we have to win the game for the pride of all our people, for us. Today I am going to play for Juanpe, for his children. He is going to play for mine. Jota, today I want to play for you who carry many years here. Gali, too. People, we all have to be united. Danju, where are you? I want to play for you, I’m going to play for you. team. And so everyone. And we are going to win, people, because we deserve it and we have fought hard to be here. We are going to win, people, let’s go.”
"¡𝑸𝒖𝒊𝒆𝒓𝒐 𝒋𝒖𝒈𝒂𝒓 𝒑𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒖 𝒇𝒂𝒎𝒊𝒍𝒊𝒂, 𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒆𝒓𝒐 𝒋𝒖𝒈𝒂𝒓 𝒑𝒐𝒓 𝒕𝒊… 𝒚 𝒂𝒔í 𝒕𝒐𝒅𝒐𝒔!"
Palabra de capitán. La impresionante charla de @CristhianStuani en un día histórico para el @GironaFC. #LaCasaDelFútbol #UCL pic.twitter.com/ELACBFWDw0
— Fútbol en Movistar Plus+ (@MovistarFutbol) October 22, 2024
Relevo add context that Jota is kitman Josep Maria Luis, who has been at the club for the last 20 years, while Gali refers to match delegate Javier Galiano. He too has been at the club for an age. Manager Michel called it an historic occasion, referencing Stuani’s speech ahead of the game as a perfect reflection of their feelings for the game and each other.
The Uruguayan striker, now 37, has been dubbed many times the most important player in Girona’s history, having seen them back up to Primera after three close calls in Segunda. It was fitting that Juanpe should have gotten the second goal, as the player who has spent the most time at the club, arriving in 2016.
