Match Pack: Girona FC vs Athletic Club (LaLiga MD14)

We're finally back in LaLiga action. After a two-week break for international football, Athletic Club head to Catalunya where they'll face surprise package, and current league leaders, Girona FC.

Ernesto Valverde's Lions will have their work cut out for them. The Catalans have won 11 from 13, their only defeat coming against Real Madrid, but a win at Montilivi would be a huge confidence boost for Los Rojiblancos, who are unbeaten in their last three games.

Match Info
Girona FC vs Athletic Club

Montilivi, Girona

LaLiga EA Sports 23/24 (Matchday 14)

Monday November 27, 21:00 CET

How to Watch
A complete TV guide with global channels and kick-off times for the fixture.

Team News
Valverde has named a 23-man squad for the match in Bilbao.

Yeray Álvarez and Yuri Berchiche all remain in the treatment room, where they are joined by Dani García.

Ander Herrera is back in the squad after recovering from injury and young goalkeeper Alex Padilla has been called up from Bilbao Athletic as cover.

Valverde's Comments
The boss wants to see a good peformance against an "impressive" Girona side who he believes deserve to be where they are in the league.

The Opponents

Head coach: Michel

Miguel Ángel Sánchez Muñoz, aka Michel, has been in charge at Girona FC since July 2021. He took the Catalan side back to the top-flight that same season after beating CD Tenerife in the play-off final. Michel is something of a promotion expert having also taken previous sides Huesca and Rayo Vallecano back to the first division.

From his 51 LaLiga fixtures with Girona, Michel has led them to 24 wins, 11 draws and 16 defeats.

Top goalscorer: Artem Dovbyk

The 26-year-old Ukrainiain marksman has played a pivotal role in Girona's rise to the top of LaLiga, finding the back of the net seven times in 13 appearances. His career started in 2014 at local side Cherkaskyi Dnipro in the Ukrainian second division before being snapped up by FC Dnipro.

In 2018, the striker moved to FC Midtjylland in Denmark, where he also spent a season on loan with Sønderjyske. However, after stuggling for form in Denmark, Dovbyk returned to his native country in 2020.

Once back in Ukraine, he became unstoppable, scoring an incredible 44 goals in 71 Premier Liga matches for SK Dnipro-1 - a successor to the now defunct FC Dnipro. Last season, he netted 24 goals in 30 appearances, figures which saw Girona make Artem their record signing this summer.

Recent form: WWWWW

With the exception of an opening day 1-1 draw against Real Sociedad and a 0-3 loss to Real Madrid in September, Girona have only tasted victory so far this season. Eleven wins in 13 matches.

At the moment they are two points clear at the top of the table, with Madrid chasing them in second place. What's more, with 31 goals for, no other side has found the back of the net more often than Michel's team at this point of the campaign.

Previous Meetings
A young fixture in LaLiga history, our first clash with Girona took place in the 2017/18 season, with Athletic winning 2-0.

We've played each other six times in total. The Lions have registered three wins and three losses.

This will be our fourth visit to Montilivi. So far we've emerged victorious in one of our three previous trips to Girona.

The Zurigorri's sole LaLiga victory at Montilivi to date came in the 2018/19 season. Goals from Iñaki Williams and Raúl García saw Athletic come from behind to win 1-2.