Soccer Football - LaLiga - Girona v Real Madrid - Estadi Montilivi, Girona, Spain - December 7, 2024 Girona's Ladislav Krejci and David Lopez in action with Real Madrid's Kylian Mbappe REUTERS/Jon Nazca
(Reuters) - Girona are struggling to match the giddy highs of last season when they finished a surprise third in LaLiga and after a 3-0 home defeat by Real Madrid on Saturday coach Michel said they are finding it tough to compete against the top teams.
Defeat on Saturday extended Girona's winless streak to four games in all competitions and they are eighth in the league, two spots out of the final European qualification berth.
They are also enduring a tough debut in the Champions League, losing four of their opening five matches, and were knocked out of the Cop del Rey by fourth-tier Logrones in midweek.
"There are games that, at the moment, are a little bit too big for us, like this (against Real Madrid) or some of the Champions League games," Michel told a news conference.
"That punishes you because the players see that last year they were doing much better and this year it's not so easy."
Michel said a recent good run in the league had raised hopes they were on the right track.
"We had gone four games unbeaten in LaLiga, we lost today and expectations were high," he added. "I said I wanted to qualify for Europe and I want to give this squad that boost. So many games, in three competitions, is costing us a lot."
He also pointed to the changes in his squad following the departure and arrival of several players over the summer.
"It is difficult, structurally, because we have changed a lot of players. We haven't been able to train together much and there have been a lot of difficulties to have a good pre-season," the Spaniard said.
"Everything we compare to the past is negative. We are a rising club and we are doing things right. We had to sell players."
(Reporting by Janina Nuno Rios in Mexico City; Editing by Peter Rutherford)
