Girona Manager Hails Xavi’s Barcelona: “They Dominate All The Records In La Liga”
Barcelona host Girona at Spotify Camp Nou on a rare Monday night fixture in Matchday 28 of La Liga. The game presents the Blaugranas with a golden opportunity to go 15 points clear atop the standings after Real Madrid’s slip-up against Villarreal.
Ahead of the fixture against the Catalans, Girona manager Michel spoke to the media and shared his thoughts on Barcelona under Xavi and the great opponent he expects on Monday.
“Barça are a great team, they do a lot of things well, and with Xavi, they dominate all the records in La Liga, whether in chances, goals…
“They are a very difficult opponent to score against. They have only drawn two games at home in La Liga and won the rest. It will be a very difficult game for us, but we want to do things right,” he said, as quoted by SPORT.
As the Spanish tactician rightly points out, the Catalans hold almost all the records in La Liga 2022-23, from the defence until the final third.
They have created the most big chances in the league, conceded the least number of goals, maintained the most clean sheets, kept the most possession of the ball, and record the most accurate long balls per game.
Further, Barcelona’s Robert Lewandowski leads La Liga’s goalscoring charts with 17 goals and also has the highest G+A tally.
Their remarkable turnaround in the domestic league this season appears to give Real Madrid no chance of a comeback. With ten matchdays to go, La Liga appears to be under their belt and they will look to take one more step against Girona on Monday.
Later in his press conference, Michel gave his two cents about the previous meeting with Barcelona earlier this season which his side lost narrowly courtesy of a Pedri goal.
“We analyzed the game of the first round and, for me, in the first half, we lacked a little more personality at some point. We want the team to be aggressive with the ball because at any moment Barça can score a goal against you.”
He finally cited Barcelona’s excellent home record this term and added that he expected a difficult game for his side.
“Barcelona have to win the league and I think they are closer. But it’s not a done deal. We have to take points to finish the day as far away from relegation as possible and higher up the table,” he said.
“I expect a difficult Barça because at home they have won everything except for two games. I know about the difficulty and that we will suffer, but I also think that the team will have personality and mentality. Tomorrow Girona will play a great game.”
