Míchel keeps Girona grounded after Barça win: 'Alavés will be a proper battle'
Girona boss Míchel is refusing to let his squad get carried away after beating Barcelona, with a tricky trip to Mendizorroza firmly in his sights.
Beating Barcelona is brilliant, but Míchel isn’t letting Girona get too giddy about it — the manager has his eyes firmly fixed on what comes next.
The Barça win? Lovely. Now forget it.
Girona pulled off a result of real quality against Barça last week, and fair play to them — it’s done wonders for morale and confidence in the dressing room. But Míchel is keeping things measured. The manager described it as a moment of pride rather than euphoria, and made clear the squad are already zoned in on the next job. The target remains 42 points to secure survival, and until they hit that number, there’s no room for getting too chuffed with themselves.
It’s the kind of mentality that separates the managers who actually keep teams up from the ones who let a big result turn into a banana skin.
A proper test awaits at Mendizorroza
Alavés at home is no walk in the park, and Míchel knows it. He flagged that Deportivo Alavés are intense, direct, and genuinely difficult to deal with on their own patch. Their two main strikers have had a strong season, they press well, and they’ve got the midfield quality to combine in the final third. Girona will need to be at their very best to nick anything from this one.
The injury situation
Míchel confirmed a fair few absentees heading into the match:
- Long-term injuries: Van de Beek, Ter Stegen, Álex Moreno
- No longer in the squad: Portu, Juan Carlos (no shirt numbers)
- Suspended: Joel Roca
The good news — and it genuinely is good news — is that Ounahi is back. The Moroccan midfielder has been out since picking up an injury at the Africa Cup of Nations back in January, but he’s fit and will be in the squad. Míchel sounded well pleased to have him available again.
Under-the-radar stat of the season
Here’s a nugget worth flagging: Míchel pointed out that Girona have conceded fewer shots on target than any other side in La Liga so far in 2026. That’s not what you’d necessarily expect from a team that plays as openly as they do — but it shows the defensive improvement has been real, not just a fluke.
The bigger picture
Girona are in a decent place right now. They’re not flying, they’re not struggling — they’re grinding, which is exactly what a team in their position needs to be doing. The manager’s message is simple: collective mentality, fight for every ball, and don’t let one great result become a distraction.
With 14 games to go and survival the priority, Míchel’s got his head screwed on right. The Alavés trip is next up, and it’ll tell us a fair bit about whether this Girona side can back up the big result with a proper away performance.