A round-up of how the Spanish and Catalan media reacted to Liverpool's narrow 1-0 win over Girona in the Champions League
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Jhon Solis (No.22)(Girona FC) and Andrew Robertson (No.26)(Liverpool FC) gesture during a UEFA Champions League match between Girona FC and Liverpool FC at Estadi Municipal de Montilivi.
Jhon Solis, of Girona, and Andy Robertson, of Liverpool, shake hands after the Champions League clash at Estadi Municipal de Montilivi
(Image: Felipe Mondino/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
A Mohamed Salah penalty was the difference as Liverpool won 1-0 at Girona on Tuesday night to preserve their 100% record in the Champions League league phase. The result leaves the Reds on the verge of qualifying automatically for the round of 16.
That was not enough to please Arne Slot, though. While full of praise for the La Liga outfit, the Liverpool head coach was left unimpressed with his own side’s performance.
Girona impressed against the Reds and were unfortunate not to at least get on the scoresheet, finding themselves unable to find a way past the superb Alisson Becker on his return from a hamstring injury. Meanwhile, Liverpool's winner was not without a cloud of controversy, as Donny van de Beek was only penalised for a foul on Luis Diaz in the box after a VAR review.
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The Spanish and Catalan media were left feeling proud of Girona’s performance, but could not help wondering what might have been with the loss leaving them on the verge of elimination.
“Girona came within a whisker of interrupting Liverpool's Champions League triumph, but Europe has once again turned its back on them,” wrote Amadeu Garcia of El Mundo.
“Nothing suggested such an outcome in a first half in which the huge gap between the two teams in the standings was not reflected on the pitch.
“After the goal 0-1, Míchel's men seemed to find renewed spirit to look for the opponent's goal. Almost always, with an excess of haste that sent their chances down the drain time and again.”
Pablo Lodiero of ABC would bemoan how ‘Girona humanized Liverpool but fell cruelly’. “The Catalans' great performance goes unrewarded,” he wrote. “The Champions League is a cruel competition which waits for no-one and forces you to lose hundreds of times before you can taste any joy, a reality that Girona had to live through against Liverpool.”
Carlos Ruiz of La Vanguardia echoed such sentiments as Girona suffered a ‘cruel defeat’ after a ‘cocktail of emotions’.
He wrote: “None other than Liverpool. Probably the most in-form team on the continent. The Anfield legend. Six-time champion of the Champions League. The most successful of the English teams. A club with an aura, its essence imbued with a special charisma. The entity of You'll Never Walk Alone.
“Another Champions League gift, this time one of those you unwrap with the excitement of a child on Christmas Day. It was the early arrival of Santa Claus, also dressed in red. The most lustrous visitor beyond the Pyrenees in a Montilivi accustomed for decades to receiving modest teams.
“Another historic day for the city, once again decked out for the occasion in this unique season, and for a Girona side that experienced a duel between admiration, for being an unimaginable moment a few months ago in the club's almost 100 years, and the need to win in order to continue dreaming in the European tournament.
“A cocktail of emotions that was difficult to balance, which ended in a cruel defeat. The Catalans competed, and even deserved more, but a penalty scored by Salah left Míchel's men without a response and practically without any hope in the Champions League.”
Marc Bernad Suelves of AS admitted it would take ‘a matter of witchcraft’ for Girona to progress now after the narrowest of losses to Liverpool.
“Girona say goodbye to the Champions League,” he wrote. “The head and the maths will say no yet, but the heart knows no lies and with only three points in their bag and two games ahead (against Milan and Arsenal), qualifying would be a matter of witchcraft.
“Of course, they can always count on the fact that Liverpool had to use VAR to beat them. It appeared to award a penalty that Salah converted and ended Girona's resistance. Míchel's team died on their feet, no going on their knees. Pure 'Girona pride'.
“Girona woke up decked out and with the sign of 'Champions territory' along the bridge of les peixateries velles in the city. The match deserved it and it was, without a doubt, the most important in the history of the Girona club. In the Champions League and against a Liverpool that left (and came out) Montilivi with the sign of leader of the Premier League and the current Champions League. Sometimes, history weighs too much, but the Girona team endured it.
“Míchel had a match in mind and his players carried it out perfectly. The credibility of the coach is maximum and the players did not hesitate to fight . The maxim was 'run, run and run again', that was non-negotiable because Liverpool had already shown him from the start of the match that the ball was going to be 'red'.
“Girona not only survived Liverpool in the first half, if it were boxing and everything was decided by points, the Girona players' arms would have gone to heaven because while they shot four times on goal, Liverpool were left with three, one less.
“A cruel blow for a Girona that has not turned a game around all season and so dreaming of 'scraping' a point from Liverpool was an impossible mission . And it is that it did not have a chance either.”
Meanwhile, Xevi Masachs wrote for L’Esportiude Catalunya: “Girona fell with their heads held high against Liverpool, who took the victory in Montilivi thanks to a VAR penalty.”
His colleague, Joel Sebastian, added: “A very worthy role for Girona, who, after losing their excess of respect for Liverpool as the minutes passed, faced an English team that won by the narrowest margin thanks to an innocent penalty from Van de Beek on Luis Díaz executed by Mohamed Salah.”
And finally, Joan Domenech ofEl Peridico pointed to Liverpool’s freshness after the postponed Merseyside derby and Alisson’s return from injury as decisive factors for Slot’s side.
“Liverpool, leaders of everything, the Premier League and the Champions League, arrived at Montilivi in a very ecstatic mood for an anaemic Girona, who had just been eliminated from the Cup by Logroñés and thrashed by Madrid,” he wrote. “But Míchel's team has not lost its spirit of resistance and fight, having faced one of the world's greats and having conceded from the penalty spot.
“The lack of goals once again hampered the Girona team, which had opportunities to open the scoring and negotiate it from superiority on the scoreboard, which is never noticeable on the pitch. The changes of the summer are manifested in all their crudeness in the attack with the loss of a very relevant, decisive dose of gunpowder, against the world powers that have plenty of resources.
“It did not help a bruised and worn-out Girona that the capricious weather caused a storm in England that suspended the Liverpool derby.
“Arne Slot had no one to rest or anyone to reserve for the next match against Fulham, although the caution given the comfortable leadership in the Premier League and the Champions League and the quality of the squad encouraged him to keep some cards up his sleeve. He had a comfortable opportunity to return Alisson Becker to the goal after recovering from his injury.
“The game was always under Liverpool's control in many phases, believing the fact that they only know how to play at a gallop, although that is their main formula for hitting their opponents. Girona gave up ground and came out from behind with judgment, charging down the left flank where Blind, Miguel and Danjuma, who dropped to the wing, met up.
“Liverpool's stampedes and Girona's offensive zeal, although they were held back by the control that the English eleven tried to exert, between expectant and cautious in order to discover an unknown European venue, were soon evident.”