Spurs loan watch: Tottenham loanee in Champions League action
By Tom Vinall
On Wednesday night, Bryan Gil and his Girona counterparts traveled to Paris to face French giants Paris Saint-Germain for their debut in European football, having impressively finished third in La Liga last season - in just their fifth top-flight campaign as a club.
Girona had faced FC Barcelona at the weekend, and this task was not much easier, facing a start-studded PSG side who had flown out of the blocks to start their 24/25 campaign. As European debuts go, it couldn't have been much of a harder task.
Girona manager Michel placed Gil in his starting XI for this game, playing off the left-hand side in his 4231 setup, making up an attack with Donny van de Beek, Viktor Tsygankov, and the veteran skipper Cristhian Stuani.
Bryan Gil appears for Girona against Paris Saint-Germain
Gil put in a solid account for himself and his side, winning 10/13 of his ground duels, drawing three fouls, making four tackles, and completing 3/5 dribbles. All of that was in 66 minutes, before his number appeared on the fourth officials' board, being replaced by Yaser Asprilla.
It was a battling effort from Girona, who withstood an onslaught from their hosts, who had missed multiple presentable opportunities. It was to be heartbreak for Gil and his counterparts, however, as in the dying embers of the game, Nuno Mendes slightly deflected cross was fumbled by former Spurs goalkeeper Paulo Gazzaniga, who somehow let the ball go through his legs, and diverted it into the back of the net to ensure Girona headed back to Spain empty-handed.
This narrow defeat leaves Gil's side 27th out of 36 sides in the new Champions League 'group phase'. To automatically qualify for the knockout stages, Girona must finish in the top eight in this group. For a chance to advance via a two-legged play-off, they must finish between 9th-24th. Had they held on for the point, they would have been as high as 15th.
Next up for Gil and his side is a trip to La Liga strugglers Valencia on Saturday, kick off at 17:30 BST, 12:30 ET.
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