Girona vs Feyenoord: Preview, predictions and lineups
A historic occasion beckons on Wednesday evening as the Montilivi plays host to its first-ever Champions League fixture with Girona taking on Feyenoord.
These two sides are aiming to claim their first points of the league phase on Matchday 2 after both fell to defeats to open their respective accounts.
While Girona were cruelly beaten by PSG at the death thanks to a woeful Paulo Gazzaniga blunder, Feyenoord were completely outclassed by Bundesliga champions Bayer Leverkusen at De Kuip.
Neither team has started their domestic campaign particularly well, although there was an expectation that the pair would struggle to replicate their performances from last season. The Dutch outfit lost manager Arne Slot to Liverpool, and Girona oversaw the key departures of Savinho, Aleix Garcia, and Artem Dovbyk in the summer.
Feyenoord have won just a third of their Eredivisie outings and currently sit sixth, while Girona are languishing in mid-table having failed to win since 1 September.
Here’s 90min’s preview of Wednesday’s Champions League clash in Catalonia.
Girona vs Feyenoord H2H Record
This is the first competitive fixture between Girona and Feyenoord.
Current form (all competitions)
|
Girona |
Feyenoord |
|---|---|
|
Celta Vigo 1-1 Girona – 29/09/24 |
NEC 1-1 Feyenoord – 29/08/24 |
|
Girona 0-0 Rayo Vallecano – 25/09/24 |
Feyenoord 2-0 NAC – 22/09/24 |
|
Valencia 2-0 Girona – 21/09/24 |
Feyenoord 0-4 Bayer Leverkusen – 19/09/24 |
|
PSG 1-0 Girona – 18/09/24 |
Groningen 2-2 Feyenoord – 14/09/24 |
|
Girona 1-4 Barcelona – 15/09/24 |
Sparta Rotterdam 1-1 Feyenoord – 25/08/24 |
|
Country |
TV channel/live stream |
|---|---|
|
United Kingdom |
discovery+, discovery+ App, TNT Sports 10 |
|
United States |
Paramount+, ViX |
|
Canada |
DAZN |
Girona were dealt a couple of injury blows at the weekend with veterans Oriol Romeu and Daley Blind both being forced off. The pair are doubtful for Wednesday’s clash as a result.
The hosts are still without Jastin Garcia and Ricard Artero, with these two set to return after the October international break.
Yangel Herrera will likely drop into a deeper midfield position if Romeu isn’t fit enough to start, with Portu coming back into the side after coming off the bench against Celta at the weekend.
Girona predicted lineup vs Feyenoord (4-2-3-1): Gazzaniga; Frances, Krejci, Lopez, Gutierrez; Martin, Herrera; Tsygankov, Portu, Danjuma; Miovski.
Feyenoord recently lost sharpshooter Santiago Gimenez to a hip injury that could see him miss the rest of the calendar year.
Gimenez joins Calvin Stengs and Quilindschy Hartman on the sidelines, but both of these players are closing in on their respective returns. Bart Niewkoop is also out for the visitors.
In the significant absence of Gimenez, Ayase Ueda will most likely get the nod up top.
Feyenoord predicted lineup vs Girona (4-3-3): Wellenreuther; Lotomba, Beelen, Hancko, Smal; Milambo, Hwang, Timber; Osman, Ueda, Paixao.
We can expect these two teams to be competing towards the bottom of the league phase table, but Girona at least offered some resistance in Paris on Matchday 1. Their struggles so far have resided in the final third, but a sturdy enough backline is keeping them in contests.
Feyenoord, meanwhile, were completely outmatched against Leverkusen, and the absence of Gimenez, who scored the bulk of their goals last season, is undoubtedly a huge blow. Mitigating his loss may be beyond new coach Brian Priske.
As this is a grand occasion for the hosts with the Montilivi staging its first Champions League affair, we’ll give the slender edge to Girona, but you shouldn’t be expecting the most thrilling of contests.