Girona head coach Michel reacts to their narrow 1-0 loss to PSG in their first ever game in the UEFA Champions League
Parc des Princes, Paris, France
Parc des Princes, Paris, France
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00:00At the press conference of the coach, please, ask for the tone, say your name and the media.
00:05Please, only one question for media, please.
00:08Let's go.
00:09Hi, Michel.
00:10Here, to the right, we have a question from Tabu.
00:13Let's start with the other one.
00:15What do you feel? How are you?
00:17Can you tell me the feelings of a day like today, since you came to the pitch?
00:21The game, the final cruelty.
00:23Anyway, you can start wherever you want.
00:25How are you? What do you feel?
00:28Well, I think we have given a good image at the club level and on the pitch.
00:38We are a humble club.
00:41Our first experience in the Champions League, we wanted to enjoy it.
00:44I think the club has been up to the task, and we have been on the pitch as well.
00:50And that is the most important thing, that we continue to grow,
00:55beyond the result, where I think Paris Saint-Germain has been better,
00:59especially in the second half.
01:01Well, the goal comes at the end of the game, but it could have come earlier.
01:05The last half hour has been very long.
01:08We have not been able to have the ball.
01:10It is true that Paris Saint-Germain, when you sink,
01:13Luis Enrique generates an incredible pressure after losing to PTP.
01:17And we have not been able to take the first two passes to go out.
01:20Then it will be to be continuously in the defensive phase.
01:23And that has caused us not to be able to breathe,
01:26and go out with tranquility or comfort.
01:29And well, the goal in the end hurts,
01:34but at the level, I think, of feeling, we have given a good image.
01:43Beyond the fact that we have not had many options to win the game,
01:47I do see that the team has been working for three years with an idea,
01:51and today the team has tried in every way to show that we are here,
01:56because we deserved it last year.
01:59So, well, happy out there, a little sad for the result,
02:05but I have already said that it will pass quickly.
02:08From 12 o'clock at night you do not have to think more about Paris,
02:13although it will always be Paris.
02:20What will you say to the players?
02:23What will be more, bad luck for having lost the game,
02:26or pride for having competed at PSG and not having tied for two minutes?
02:34Well, pride.
02:36We always have to have, when we put on this shirt,
02:40win or lose, respect for our people,
02:44positive attitude, and that is what cannot be forgiven.
02:49And I think many players on the field have done it.
02:52So, the only thing I can ask you is to keep doing that,
02:55because it is what I have asked you in the last three years.
02:58And I want to follow that line.
03:01We are a very, very, very humble club,
03:05and there are players here who have been here for many years
03:08with many positive and negative things in their backpacks.
03:12And today was a special day for them,
03:15and, well, congratulations to them,
03:19because those who have been making Girona bigger for a long time
03:22deserve that recognition today.
03:26Hi, Michel.
03:27This is Nuria Villamala, live on La Cadena Ser.
03:30Despite the result, it is a historic game for Girona.
03:33How have you experienced the moment
03:35when you heard the Champions League anthem for the first time?
03:39Well, I think I didn't hear it well.
03:41I was thinking about the game,
03:44and I didn't enjoy it at all.
03:47Well, I enjoyed it, yes, but I didn't hear it
03:51with 100% attention.
03:56And, well, I'm happy,
03:58because when you see the people on the pitch,
04:01I know that there were many eyes on us,
04:04our people, our families,
04:06all the journey that Girona has made in its history.
04:09Well, today there are many people who have lived
04:12historically important moments in Girona,
04:15and surely today they had that feeling of pride
04:19and feeling of belonging
04:21to a club that is achieving something historic.
04:24So, I remembered a little of that,
04:26of the moments of this club,
04:29and a little more thinking about the game.
04:32But, well, happy, because it is a historic day,
04:35and it is a day to enjoy,
04:37and the truth is that we have been able to do it.
04:40Michel, this is Dani Gil,
04:42live on La Cadena Cope.
04:44Despite the defeat and that slightly bitter taste,
04:47I don't know if today you have the feeling that Girona is leaving,
04:50telling all of Europe that you are going to compete,
04:53Well, that is the goal.
04:55The other day I said that we were far from Barça,
04:58and, well, obviously we are far from PSG.
05:01They have shot 23 times, and we two.
05:04We are far, but we have competed well.
05:07And the other day it is true that we did not compete well with Barça,
05:10but we are a club that has been doing things well for a long time,
05:14and it shows.
05:16And that, the only thing I ask of the new players
05:20is that they soak up the people who have been here for a long time,
05:23because there are people who have suffered in the second division
05:27and have achieved great things to be here,
05:30and it is a lot of sacrifice,
05:33and a lot of effort, and a lot of work,
05:36and from night to morning things are not achieved.
05:39In the day-to-day how a good team has to fail.
05:46And, well, today I am happy for many people,
05:50and a little sad for another.
06:15One is Tuani, you were committed that he would be the captain in the first game,
06:19and you fulfilled it, as it is logical,
06:21but what did you say, what did Tuani say?
06:24And another, it seemed to me that Juan Carlos, the goalkeeper, was also happy.
06:27Someone had told me that he had seen him in Paris, Juan Carlos?
06:31Yes, yes, he was there.
06:33And, therefore, is he one of those players that you set as an example,
06:37now that you were talking about this?
06:39Yes, the first was the predictions in the Champions League.
06:44Well, go game by game.
06:46In addition, it is a league, it is not a group,
06:49then you have to go game by game and add points.
06:53I don't know, the predictions,
06:56as they will be, obviously all the teams play,
06:59and you have to add,
07:01first to be among the eight best,
07:03and then to be in the next round if you are from 9 to 24,
07:07I think it is something like that.
07:10Well, we will look game by game.
07:12We are not interested in thinking about Valencia at 12 at night, that's it.
07:15And, well, what I am convinced of is that we will compete in all the games
07:21and we will improve and grow.
07:23This experience is worth it for us to continue growing.
07:26It is not easy to come here.
07:27In the first game, the team was very tense, it has been noticed,
07:30but then we have been growing with the passage of time,
07:36and I think that the team, in the end, has had personality
07:40and a good staging on a stage like this, which is exceptional,
07:45one of the greats of Europe.
07:47And Juan Carlos, well, yes, I remember him and I have spoken to him,
07:52and obviously I already apologized to him on his day,
07:57because we had to leave a player out,
08:00it is not easy to decide,
08:02he has had some difficult times here
08:06and he has also achieved very beautiful things.
08:09The stop in Eibar, the stop in Burgos,
08:12are memories that take us here.
08:15So he knows that he is one more of us,
08:17he has been here, of course, how can he not be?
08:19And he has even wanted to warm up his teammates,
08:23which honors him and shows the commitment he has with the club.
08:32Ah, and Studani, well, we have already said everything.
08:35Studani has finished with a few words before Jota's cry,
08:42and I am happy for him.
08:45I think I said it yesterday, or not,
08:48if I didn't say it yesterday, I already told the players.
08:50The good thing about this is that he came as a great player
08:54and he is going to leave when he leaves,
08:57in many years, as a legend of the club.
09:00And that is not only for the professional,
09:02surely it will also be for the personal,
09:04because he has left a mark.
09:06So it means that he deserves this game.
09:12Hi, MÃchel, here.
09:14Marc Brugues, from the Diario de Girona.
09:18What did Luis Enrique tell you at the end of the game,
09:21especially after this goal, how it went,
09:23and to have resisted so much until practically the last breath?
09:29No, that it was not good for our work,
09:32because we had a great year,
09:34which has cost them a lot.
09:37I have obviously congratulated him for his career
09:41and I have wished him the best,
09:43because he is one of the coaches that we can have as a reference
09:47of the level he has,
09:50and well, he has shown it,
09:53and I have wished him luck for LaLiga and for the Champions League,
09:56and I have told him that they deserved the victory,
09:58which is the reality.
10:01Good evening, coach, in French, please.
10:06Coach, your goalkeeper made an exceptional match,
10:09it is both the one who made the best match,
10:11but also the one who made you lose the match.
10:13How do you accompany your goalkeeper in the coming days
10:16to make him understand that he made a very good match
10:19and that you have to stay on that, the positive?
10:23Well, as I said before,
10:25the mistakes are part of the game,
10:28and Gasaniga, I think he has made three incredible saves,
10:32which he deserved,
10:34that is, he could perfectly score goals
10:37and he has saved us until that moment,
10:40and for me the mistakes are forgivable,
10:42the attitude and the commitment,
10:44and the collective mentality and the humility
10:47to put on this shirt, no,
10:49I do not allow that.
10:51But to make a mistake,
10:56that mistake is mine,
10:58Gasaniga has to forget it,
11:00that mistake is as if I had made it.
11:03Hi Michel, Alex Luna from Mundo Deportivo here.
11:05Continuing with Gasaniga,
11:07have you spoken to him at the end of the game,
11:09if you have seen him playing,
11:11and on the other hand,
11:13if you could assess the role of the fans,
11:15who have been especially euphoric today?
11:17No, I have congratulated him,
11:20I do not know if he will be,
11:22I think Gasaniga has a lot of experience,
11:24I do not know if he will be or not hurt,
11:26but he knows he has all our confidence.
11:30And the fans,
11:33wonderful,
11:35I have seen many things on Instagram,
11:37on Twitter, I have seen many videos,
11:41they deserve to live a day like this,
11:43and well,
11:45today we also had
11:47Jota's talk,
11:49who came to the club
11:51in the third division,
11:53they are people who
11:55really value
11:57what we are living now,
11:59and the fans know it,
12:01and they feel proud of us,
12:03we hope that they have felt well represented,
12:07and happy to be able to
12:09put the name of Girona in all of Europe,
12:11and we will continue to do so.
12:13The fans, as always,
12:15thank you, we need you,
12:17together we are much stronger,
12:19we have to keep growing
12:21as a club,
12:23and with their
12:25encouragement, their strength,
12:27their support,
12:29we believe that
12:31we can continue
12:33doing things well and growing as a club.
12:37Hi Michel,
12:39Claudia Espinoza for El Diario Sport.
12:41Yesterday I was just asking you about Creixi,
12:43he had had little participation until now,
12:45he had been touched,
12:47and today he made his debut on a stage like the Champions League.
12:49He has been very well,
12:51in fact he has taken that goal
12:53from Dembélé, and I wanted to ask you
12:55if you have spoken to him and how you have seen him in the game.
12:59Yes,
13:01congratulations to everyone,
13:03I already said that he is a player
13:05who is very important to us,
13:07we trust him a lot,
13:09he had not had
13:11the minutes of the game,
13:13because he also had an injury problem,
13:15he had also come from the Eurocup a little later,
13:17so those team processes
13:19have made him
13:21start on the bench,
13:23but he is an important player
13:25for us, he will always be,
13:27and the reality is that
13:29they are all players who
13:31have to give us performance,
13:33and Creixi has made a great game today,
13:35he has made a great game,
13:37I congratulate him,
13:39he is a young player,
13:41we have a lot of hope in him.
13:43I want to talk to you
13:45about these changes,
13:47five changes
13:49regarding the last game,
13:51this is also important for the team,
13:53for Van de Beek,
13:55also for Creixi,
13:57for players like Ryan Hill,
13:59is this a positive note
14:01of today's game?
14:03Totally, we need everyone,
14:05now there are five games
14:07in 18 days,
14:09we don't have time to train,
14:11so we need everyone
14:13to be 100%
14:15to be able to compete,
14:17and that happens because
14:19we are making changes
14:21and players
14:23who have not entered today,
14:25surely on Saturday
14:27they have to play because
14:29there is little recovery time
14:31and we need to compete 100% in Valencia,
14:33so this is going to be
14:35a bit of a tonic,
14:37that's why we made a slightly longer squad
14:39and we have the feeling
14:41that it is very balanced
14:43and that we have many solutions,
14:45so the bottom of the closet is positive
14:47and we have to get everyone
14:49to be at 200% to help the team.
14:51The last one, please.
14:53Hi, good evening,
14:55Jorge Agüero, Radio Nacional de España,
14:57I wanted to ask you about the rest time,
14:59I don't know if your idea
15:01that you told the guys has changed a lot,
15:03I don't know if you have seen a reaction
15:05from the players,
15:07they have been more committed
15:09and they have even put
15:11Paris Saint-Germain in trouble, thank you.
15:13Yes, well, we have talked a little
15:15about the main difference
15:17that could be between the first
15:19and the second half,
15:21is that they, instead of making a three-man exit,
15:23had Rafa a little higher on the outside
15:25and...
15:27but our pressure was being good
15:29in our defense of spaces too,
15:31so, well, the only thing
15:33we have asked them is the ability
15:35to go out a little more with the ball
15:37at the beginning of the second half
15:39we have done it, but then,
15:41maybe, I don't know if
15:43after one or two counters
15:45that there have been, maybe the team
15:47has been defending very far behind
15:49and there, yes, Paris Saint-Germain
15:51has started to squeeze a lot more
15:53in the pressure after the loss and we were not able to go out
15:55and the last half has cost us a lot,
15:57a lot, a lot, but well,
15:59at the end of the break
16:01we talked a lot about
16:03the body language of each one,
16:05of the aids,
16:07that when one went out to press
16:09had the communication
16:11of one from behind to say
16:13you see that I help you, you see that
16:15that message of, well,
16:17of need, because in the end
16:19to defend a team like Paris Saint-Germain
16:21you need to have a lot of defensive aids
16:23and if you don't have
16:25defensive aid, many times you don't go forward
16:27so, well, our message was that
16:29that the player had the encouragement of the teammate
16:31always to be able to take that step forward
16:33and well,
16:35I think the players have emptied
16:37and we can't say more
16:39than to congratulate them and that
16:41this is our reality now
16:43it is difficult to compete
16:45with Barça, with Paris Saint-Germain
16:47we have to be willing
16:49to keep growing, to keep improving
16:51and it happens because we have humility so that in the day to day
16:53all together we can do things well
16:55and grow as a team
16:57if we achieve that, surely
16:59we will compete in all matches
17:01be it Wednesday or Sunday
17:03Thank you, thank you all
17:05and thanks to all the people of PSG for their
17:07attentions, good night
17:09Bonsoir