Alavés Vs Girona: Míchel demands consistency before trip to Vitoria
Alavés Vs Girona pits Girona, fresh from a 2-1 win over Barcelona, against a Basque side entrenched in a fight to stay clear of relegation on Monday night at Mendizorrotza in Vitoria; coach Míchel Sánchez has called for continuity as his team chases safety and the target of forty-two points.
Alavés sit 14th with safety in sight
Deportivo Alavés arrive at Mendizorrotza 14th in Spain's top flight, with a record of seven wins, five draws and 12 defeats from their 24 league matches and 26 points, two points clear of the relegation zone. The Basque side come off a 1-1 draw with Sevilla and have collected seven points from their last four league games, while recording five wins, three draws and four defeats in 12 home matches this season.
Lineups, suspensions and injuries
Alavés will have Jonny Otto available after a suspension, but Ville Koski and Carlos Protesoni are out with injuries; Toni Martínez, who starred in the 1-1 draw with Sevilla, is expected to occupy a role in the final third alongside Carles Alena and Lucas Boyé, who are both in line for starts. Girona will be without Joel Roca because of a red-card suspension from the Barcelona game, and Azzedine Ounahi, Alex Moreno, Juan Carlos, Portu and Donny van de Beek remain sidelined with injuries, leaving head coach Míchel to consider the same XI that beat Barcelona — including a role for Thomas Lemar in the final third.
Míchel presses for consistency after Barcelona win
Míchel framed the trip to Vitoria as a test of continuity after Saturday's victory, saying: "It has been a good week after winning a very special match. But we need to keep doing things well and pursuing the goal of forty-two points, which will likely ensure safety. " He warned that Alavés are intense at home and that Girona must be compact and fight for every ball in order to win at Mendizorrotza, adding that the team has "changed because we have done things better as a team. "
The coach pointed to defensive improvement as a key development, noting that in the Barcelona match Girona conceded the fewest shots on goal in the entire league on that day, which Míchel presented as evidence of the squad's progress. He also stressed internal competition: "It is very good to have problems selecting the starting eleven because I have many players at my disposal and in good form. "
Girona occupy 12th spot in the division, three points above Alavés in the table, and have won four of their last seven league matches while suffering a single defeat — a 1-0 reverse to Real Oviedo. The Catalan outfit have collected 13 points from their 12 away matches this season, a record that will be tested at Mendizorrotza on Monday night.
The next confirmed event is the La Liga fixture at Mendizorrotza on Monday night in Vitoria, where Alavés will seek to build on their recent home form and Girona will seek to convert the confidence from the Barcelona result into points that edge them closer to the coach's forty-two-point target.
