Girona vs Real Sociedad 26/02/19

26 February 2019

La Liga relegation fighters and the Europa League promotion contestants go head-to-head at the Estadio Municipal de Montilivi as a vulnerable Girona side tackle an improving Real Sociedad.

Although they pulled off a spectacular 2-1 road win over Real Madrid last weekend, the hosts are still frantically looking over their shoulders as they sit just four points clear of 18th-placed Villarreal. The most important thing for the Blanquivermells is that they’ve managed to bring a disastrous 13-game winless run across all competitions to an end (D5, L8) although they’ve failed to preserve a clean slate in 17th successive game. What’s more, it was Girona’s first La Liga triumph since late November. However, the Gironistes still chase their elusive first home victory in 2019 having three of five competitive home clashes after the Christmas break (D2, L3). Girona’s last LL home win dates back to October, with Eusebio Sacristan’s men failing to score 2+ match goals in six consecutive LL home games prior to this fixture.

Meanwhile, the resurgent visitors have racked up a seven-game LL unbeaten run (W4, D3) as they come into this meeting off the back of a 3-0 home win over Leganes. A strong run of form has seen the Royal reducing the gap on sixth-placed Deportivo Alaves to just three points, and they now have a chance to leapfrog the Babazorros and even interfere in the Champions League promotion race. However, the Whites and Blues have struggled to impress on the road recently having picked up just one triumph on their last five LL road trips (W1, D2, L2). In that period, Imanol Alguacil’s players have failed to find the net on three occasions although scoring over 1.5 goals per match on the remaining two. What’s more, Real Sociedad have scored just one goal in three of their previous H2H meetings with Girona at this venue, collecting only two points in the process (D2, L1).