FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - LaLiga - Atletico Madrid v Girona - Civitas Metropolitano, Madrid, Spain - August 25, 2024 Girona coach Michel before the match REUTERS/Isabel Infantes/File Photo
(Reuters) - Girona manager Michel said on Tuesday that they are no longer the same team that took LaLiga by storm last season and need to rediscover their identity to avoid a fourth defeat in a row.
Unfancied Girona served up one of European soccer's most compelling storylines when they went toe-to-toe with Spanish giants Real Madrid and Barcelona for much of last season before eventually finishing third.
That success was followed by a frenzied close season in which they cashed in on the likes of top scorer Artem Dovbyk and influential midfielder Aleix Garcia, while bringing in several players including Donny van de Beek from Manchester United.
The result is that Girona find themselves 12th in LaLiga ahead of Wednesday's visit of 10th-placed Rayo Vallecano, having lost their last three games in all competitions, including their debut Champions League match 1-0 at Paris St Germain.
"Things happen for a reason," Michel told a news conference. "Our reality is that we have lost three games in a row and it is difficult because people expect the team to win. Right now we are not the team we were last year, we are another one."
The key to improving Girona's fortunes lay in moving the ball quicker, he added.
"With the ball we are not hurting the opponent and this means that we have to suffer," Michel said. "We must play with fewer touches and be able to look up and for that I need high intensity. This is a machine that has to work now.
"Right now we are 12th and that is our reality. We have to improve to win games continuously as people expect. We have to go through the process and we will suffer."
Winger Portu is available after an ankle knock, giving Michel a fully fit squad as he prepares to face the club where he spent most of his playing career and took his first steps into management.
"It's a special match, which I never enjoy. It will always be like this," Michel added. "(Rayo) is the club where I have lived and my life is in Vallecas.
"They are a great team in every way. They are the team that presses the most and best in the league and they have a higher intensity than anyone else. It isn't easy to create scoring chances against them."
(Reporting by Suramya Kaushik in Bengaluru; Editing by Ken Ferris)
