Soccer Football - LaLiga - Girona v Real Madrid - Estadi Montilivi, Girona, Spain - December 7, 2024 Girona coach Michel before the match REUTERS/Jon Nazca
GIRONA, Spain (Reuters) - Girona missed the chance to move into the top six in LaLiga and the European qualification places when they lost at home to Sevilla on Saturday, but manager Michel still believes they can achieve that goal.
Michel's side, who finished third last season to enter European competition for the first time in their history, have struggled to recreate that form this campaign, and the 2-1 defeat leaves them eighth in the standings.
"One game does not take away the idea that we have the potential to fight for Europe. I am clear about it and also that we have to show it on the pitch," Michel told reporters.
"This is a step backwards but there is the whole second half of the season. We have to continue believing, working.
"The first thing is to achieve salvation which gives security and the club has stability but then we have to look upwards and build a team that can fight for Europe."
Girona took a scarcely deserved lead before the break, after Sevilla had an early penalty saved, but the visitors scored twice in the second half to leave Michel's side empty-handed.
"We wanted to have the ball and lock Sevilla in but we lost too many balls in the build-up, imprecise. And that generated uncertainty for us to grow in the game," Michel said.
"We didn't have the ability in attack and if Sevilla can run they can hurt you.
"They shot 14 times and we had seven. We had the ball but we did not manage to make progression in the game as we were looking to."
(Reporting by Trevor Stynes; editing by Clare Fallon)
