GIRONA VS LEVANTE PREVIEW & PREDICTION
The interland period is over, so also in La Liga this weekend the ball will roll again. Girona and Levante take care of the kick-off of the 30th round of play on Saturday-afternoon. The home club dreams of European football, while the visitors fight for life retention.
Girona:
What a dream debut know Girona this season. The Catalans went down 6-3 at Real Madrid just before the interlandbreak, but if you already have 43 points in your very first season at the highest level after 29 rounds, you are doing a fantastic job of course. If the red-witches hold the current seventh place, chances are that they may enter Europe next season. “I think we can start thinking about the Europa League now,” said defender Jonas Ramalho.
The excellent shape of Girona is largely due to the attack duo Cristhian Stuani and Cristian Portu, which on average account for over 65 percent of the Catalan goal production. In the Santiago Bernabeu Stuani screwed up his goal total with two goals to seventeen. No less than nine of those goals he made with the head, with which he officially can call himself the best leader of the five big leagues. With the national team of Uruguay, he participated in the China Cup during the last interland period, although he did not advance more than sixteen minutes in the Far East in two incursions. Cristian Portu seemed to be a major contender for a place in La Roja for a long time, but Spain-national coach Julen Lopetegui finally decided not to invite him. That is not a shame, of course, although he had earned a call in view of his excellent form. The big advantage is in any case that he has been able to work with trainer Pablo Machin for the past two weeks. Girona would of course like to continue with her success coach, although Machin prefers to keep his options open for a while: ‘If something beautiful passes by, I definitely want to think about it.
Levante:
They sometimes say that coach changes are only counterproductive, but then Levante is really the exception that confirms the rule. The club from Valencia had an encouraging start, but then dropped further away under former head coach Juan Muniz. After a series of fifteen rounds without victory, the board had enough of it and Muniz could pick up his bags. Successor Paco Lopez immediately ensured the desired shock effect, as the two following competition matches at Getafe (0-1) and at home against Eibar (2-1) were both won. Thanks to these two victories, Levante now has six points to manage with the relegation zone and it seems this season with nine rounds to come with the fright to come free. Defender Sergio Postigo: ‘We are not yet safe, but the feeling is good.’ Paco Lopez: ‘The goal is 38 points. Only then do we no longer have to worry about relegation. ‘
Of course, Levante is certainly not a miracle team, but it must above all have a good mentality. Then it is up to players like Roger Marti and especially Jose Luis Morales to take the team with their qualities in tow. The redblue are currently suffering from a slight injury wave, but luckily there are no carrying players in between. Sergio Postigo and Jose Angel Campana used the interland break to recover completely and will therefore make their appearance on Saturday afternoon.
PREDICTION: Girona to win @ 1.62
