Unable to shake off the nickname Cinderellasurpassed by the Champions League and the teams with pedigree, perhaps not so much in football but in results, Girona also fell to Milan in San Siro due to the lack of governance and the lack of timely finishing, also due to the uncomfortable presence of Rafael Leão on the other side of the net. A blow that definitively leaves them out of Europe and that boosts the Italian team, which already has its hand in the prize of the top 8, the direct pass to the next round of 16. A very solid participation that clashes with his time in Serie A, tangled in the middle of the table, to the point that Paulo Fonseca was relegated from the bench by Sergio Conseição.
1
Mike Maignan, Matteo Gabbia, Theo Hernández, Emerson Royal (Davide Calabria, min. 3), Strahinja Pavlovic, Ismaël Bennacer (Christian Pulisic, min. 74), Rafael Leão, Yunus Musah, Tijjani Reijnders (Filippo Terracciano, min. 74) , Youssouf Fofana and Álvaro Morata (Tammy Abraham, min. 63)
0
Paulo Gazzaniga, Daley Blind, David López, Ladislav Krejcí, Alejandro Francés, Donny van de Beek (Yáser Asprilla, min. 71), Viktor Tsyhankov (Iván Martín, min. 71), Bryan Gil (Arnaut Danjuma, min. 71), Oriol Romeu, Yangel Herrera (Portu, min. 76) and Abel Ruiz (Cristhian Stuani, min. 71)
Goals
1-0 min. 36: Rafael Leao
Referee Tobias Stieler
yellow cards
Davide Calabria (min. 40), Bryan Gil Salvatierra (min. 58), Theo Hernández (min. 79), Iván Martín (min. 81)
Although the duel began crookedly for the team rossonero Due to Emerson’s premature injury and a shot by Yangel Herrera that tickled the post following a corner kick, the roles were soon defined. Although both teams wanted to express themselves with the ball between their feet, reluctant to hit the ball from the root, enthusiastic, however, in the horizontal associations at the beginning and vertical ones at the end, the difference was that while Girona got stuck in the hot areas , Milan had Leão, the best possible brushcutter.
The Portuguese winger is a chili pepper with the ball tied, a whirlwind that likes to overflow through the interior and exterior corridors, a tap dancer with a ball in his boots, a plasticine waist and legs like rockets. In one of those, he caused a foul that Reijnders almost missed. Something similar to what happened later with Leão as a gunner and with the Girona goalkeeper, again, as the protagonist. Weaknesses of Míchel’s team, which did not get its way, sterile in its idea of getting the ball from behind; penalties that Musah and Morata did not know how to punish, nor did Theo Hernández who finished bitten and hit the crossbar after another breathtaking run by Leão. Although none like Musah’s, a galloping shot from outside the area that only the post dared to repel. It was a matter of time before the goal fell, no matter how much Girona tried to react to the counterattack, short attacks of many meters and few touches, poorly defined by Van de Beek, Tsygankov and Herrera (or stopped by Maignan). Thus, Leão, who else, invented a couple of cuts in the area and a smash to beat Gazzaniga, to put the dots on the i’s.
Girona increased the pressure in the opposite half in the second half, committed to the attack and taking risks in defense, spaces for the passes of Reijnders and Bennacer, for the runs of Leão. A back-and-forth that elevated Girona because they amassed more balls and tackled their rival, even though they once again lacked a shot. And when he had it, a sensational shot by Bryan Gil on foot that vaccinated Milan, the VAR denied him the major. Once again the jinx in Europe, although in the end definitive because the team was no longer revived, subdued by a rival that gained flight and speed with the changes, comfortable with the defense like a good Italian, happy for the counters.
It was of little use to Míchel to change all the offensive pieces, with Girona already weakened and the European farewell accepted. From Paris to Milan, Girona has moved between the shadows and the well in this Champions League, an arrhythmic step also against PSV, Feyenoord and Liverpool, a life experience, in any case, as educational as it is comforting due to how well done the previous season. But without wins or goals away from home, Girona, shelled this time against the rossonerisays goodbye to the competition early. Arrivederci.
