Girona hosted Real Sociedad at Montilivi in a La Liga match on Thursday, and Cristhian Stuani remained the human measure of a club trying to buy time on a dwindling season.
The numbers made the night matter: Girona started the game 19th and in the relegation zone, winless in five, and had taken just 22 points from 17 outings at Montilivi. They had never beaten Real Sociedad at home in La Liga, even though they had beaten the same opponent 2-1 in the reverse fixture in December.
For Real Sociedad the stakes were different. The visitors arrived in eighth place and had already secured Europa League football via their Copa del Rey victory on April 18, but their domestic form had stalled — just two points from their previous four La Liga matches after that cup triumph.
Context sharpened the choice on the pitch: Girona began the match level on points with the three teams above them and carrying one of the league's worse home records, while Real Sociedad’s recent league draw with Real Betis had mathematically ended their Champions League hopes and left them playing only for position.
Girona lined up without several regulars through injury — Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Donny van de Beek, Cristian Portu and Vladyslav Vanat were all absent — and that absence tightened the margin for error. Bryan Gil was available after serving a one-match ban for an accumulation of yellow cards, and Ivan Martin and Claudio Echeverri were flagged as pushing for starting spots after their cameos off the bench against Rayo Vallecano earlier in the week; that match is recalled in the club’s recent coverage Rayo Vallecano Vs Girona Fc Standings: Vallecas ends in dramatic 1-1 draw.
The match itself provided immediate friction. Azzedine Ounahi saw an attempted shot saved by Álex Remiro in the top centre of the goal, and Viktor Tsygankov nodded a chance wide to the right after a Bryan Gil cross. The fourth official signalled four minutes of added time late on, and the contest included disruptions: Ander Barrenetxea suffered an injury and was replaced by Pablo Marín, and Remiro also endured a stoppage with an injury delay. Mikel Oyarzabal won a free kick in the defensive half for Real Sociedad as they probed Girona’s back line.
Tension in the stands reflected tension on the table. Real Sociedad had won two of their last three away trips to Girona and had taken a 1-0 victory at Montilivi as recently as October 2024, facts that undercut any tidy homecoming narrative. Girona’s inability to turn Montilivi into a stronghold — 22 points from 17 home matches at the start of the matchday — remained the clearest barrier to climbing out of the relegation places.
The immediate consequence is unavoidable: with injuries eroding choices and a run of poor results still in place, Girona need to convert home minutes into points if they are to move off 19th. The club’s season hinges on whether the squad can patch its absences and finally make Montilivi a source of points rather than pressure.
