Soccer Football - Champions League - SK Sturm Graz v Girona - Worthersee Stadion, Klagenfurt, Austria - November 27, 2024 SK Sturm Graz's Mika Biereth celebrates scoring their first goal REUTERS/Borut Zivulovic
Klagenfurt, AUSTRIA (Reuters) -Girona lost 1-0 at Sturm Graz in the Champions League on Wednesday as Mika Biereth's second-half goal secured the hosts' first points of the competition's group stage.
Sturm celebrated their first victory over a Spanish side in Europe, as well as their first Champions League group points in over 23 years. Girona became the first Spanish team in Champions League history to lose four of their opening five matches.
Both teams are outside the playoff section with three matches left, Girona in 30th place and Sturm 29th, both on three points.
Although Girona dominated possession and controlled most of the match, they never fully tested the Sturm defence, only registering one shot on goal.
Sturm's Biereth broke the deadlock just before the hour mark, slotting home from close range after Girona keeper Paulo Gazzaniga had saved a shot from inside the box.
"I go into every game expecting to score. A lot of my goals are rebounds and some would call that lucky, but it's about getting into the right positions to make it easy, and more often than not I hit the back of the net," Biereth said.
Girona coach Michel is still confident his team can reach the knockout stages.
"We must accept that we lost a match in which we had our chances, but we are not out of the Champions League. We have to keep fighting for a dream that is still alive," he said.
"This is something we cannot lose. The challenge is there, and at home, with our people, we will have to turn it around.
"We started very well and created chances, but we lacked the right pace to break down a defence like Sturm Graz's," Michel added.
Girona, surprise third-place finishers in LaLiga last season, should have scored midway through the first half when Ivan Martin found himself unmarked in front of an unguarded net but he somehow sent the ball over the bar.
"The chance missed by Martin in the first half, with the score at 0-0, could have completely changed the match, but that is football," Michel said.
As time ran out for the Spanish side, they poured forward and Cristhian Stuani sent a header wide.
Gazzaniga moved up the pitch for a last-ditch corner, only for Girona to narrowly escape conceding a second goal after Sturm swiftly cleared the ball.
"Girona might not be a big name like Barcelona or Real Madrid, but there's a reason that they're here, and I'm really pleased that we've broken the losing streak against them (Spanish teams)," Sturm coach Jurgen Samuel said.
(Reporting by Tommy Lund in Gdansk, editing by Ed Osmond)
