Aleix García is one of the footballers with the most minutes on the pitch in the Girona squad and a key player in Míchel’s engine room. Three days before the playoff final, he attended MD to talk about the most important game of the year.
There are only three days left for the second leg of the final and to know the fate of Girona. What is the atmosphere in the locker room?
The atmosphere is very positive and the dressing room is totally united at a time like this. We have taken advantage of the week to recover our strength and rest a bit, because most of the footballers arrived fair. I think that it is a moment in which the mental and the tactical are above and this week the coach is emphasizing this. We feel illusion and desire for the time of the game to come.
Talk about the physical state of the team. Do they arrive just in strength?
We’re down to the last, but it’s the last 90 minutes and we have to give it our all. It doesn’t matter that we are in June and at the end of the season because I have no doubt that when the game starts we will be fresh and prepared.
The physical can be important, but in a situation like this… How does it affect the mental aspect?
It will be very important, we know. I even think that above the physical, just as it happened the day of Ipurúa against Eibar. It’s a matter of mentalizing that it is the last effort of the season and the last step to achieve the goal.
The coach has insisted that the mental aspect has been worked on throughout the year. Did they do anything special before the final?
I think not, I don’t know what they did in the last two seasons, but the week is being normal, working on what we have to do on the weekend. We had a barbecue on Wednesday to create a good atmosphere in the squad, but beyond this we are doing what we always do.
On a football level, what must Girona do to be able to beat a Tenerife that has a style so different from yours?
It happens to make the same approach that we did on Saturday and that we have been doing all season. In the first leg we were superior, but we didn’t manage to score any goals and the main thing we need to improve is the issue of effectiveness. It would be ideal to arrive and in the first one we have to get 0-1, like in Eibar.
Girona’s approach seems clear. What do you expect from Tenerife and the match in general? Will it change compared to the first leg?
We will try to be the protagonists, have the ball and look for the rival goal to hurt them. The fact of playing outside and in front of so many people in our game cannot influence us. There will be times when we will have to suffer because they will want to have a leading role and that is when we must be more together. Surely our forwards will give everything to score and we, from behind, will help them to make it easier for them.
Finally, all the playoff goals have been from set pieces. You are responsible at Girona. What importance can it have in the outcome?
It is a reality that we are one of the teams that generates the most danger from set pieces and we know that it is one of our strengths. They have players who are going well at the top and we will have to be vigilant, but I am confident that Stuani, Bernardo, Bueno and Juanpe, among others, can take advantage of the opportunities we create.
NIL SOLÀ
