Girona v Liverpool: Champions League – live | Champions League

Perhaps the hairiest team of this enjoyable series.

Peter Oh gets in touch again: “The incongruously multinational shirt sponsor of the plucky small-town hosts made me pause mid-Xuixo and Turron fantasy. I looked up who owns the club and was horrified to see that the major shareholder is none other than City Football Group. Forget that romantic crap I wrote earlier. ‘Underdog’ my cold, saccharine sausage! Come on you Reds! Bring these guys to their Pyrenees!”

Evan in Ottawa gets in touch: “Good evening John – watching from Ottawa, Canada and have noticed that all upper sections of Girona’s stadium appear to be closed off. Not to sound a tedious EPL-centric snob, but if they’re not used for hosting Liverpool in the CL, just wondering when *are* they used?”

Suspect safety might be an issue.

AA BB gets in touch: “Some acquisitions I think are about snapping up great value when there’s a window. The fella was available and a good goalkeeper is one of the priority positions oc. They don’t know how the Kelleher situation will play out so they’re being smart.”

Half-time: Girona 0-0 Liverpool

45 min: Robertson zings to the byline but the ball is cleared away. Next, Salah – remember him – gets what must be his first touch. Salah is involved soon again when Nunez – again – fails to get enough on the cross. And that’s the end of the action for the half.

44 min: Big smile and some self-critical laughter from Danjuma as he wastes a chance that Romeu’s pass had set up. Romeu never seems like one to annoy.

43 min: Bryan Gil, a bit of a comedy player at Tottenham, has looked pretty useful for Girona. He operates as a ball-carrier and holder rather than a dribbling winger.

41 min: Michel, Girona’s firebrand coach, wants more from his team. They’ve been pretty good so far so he must have high standards.

39 min: Liverpool’s undoubted best player has been their supposedly rusty goalie. They are struggling for penetration. Nunez has had chances but might be having one of *those* nights.

37 min: Curtis Jones has a chance now but again, looks off his game. Girona decide not to speed up on the counter. Still, though, Asprilla, with his left, lashes the ball and Alisson makes a fine save, the ball scrabbled behind.

35 min: A Nunez chance…and, no, it just won’t go in. Gazzaniga’s had a good game in goal, too.

34 min: Frances gets away from Diaz and more defending to do for Liverpool. Asprilla’s cross is stopped by Alisson, who’s having a busy reintroduction.

33 min: Danjuma attempts more soloist stuff and forces a corner when he cuts in and shoots. Alisson shows he can still punch a ball a considerable distance.

32 min: Girona defending well. Szoboszlai has had his problems getting into this game, and Curtis Jones has been quiet, too.

30 min: Nice solo run from Danjuma, but his pass to Frances asks his teammate to play a pass he is perhaps not fully capable of making.

28 min: Neat skill from Gazzaniga sees him round Nunez. Risky business, though fun to watch.

27 min: Diaz and Alejandro Francés are having a ding-dong battle. Lumps being taken out of each other. Down the Liverpool left is where the action is. Trent tries to find Robertson down the flank but the ball bounces behind.

24 min: Chances at both ends: a good game, this. Far harder than it might have appeared for Liverpool.

23 min: After a first corner is cleared, the ball drops to Szoboszlai who then loses the flight of the ball. A quick Girona counter puts Liverpool under pressure but this time it’s cleared.

21 min: Liverpool go close. Nunez nods a Trent ball wide. That’s the best chance so far.

20 min: Stephen Carr: “Hi John. To answer Mike Mackenze’s question, I’d suspect that at £30m, Marmadashvilli will cost less than Liverpool get for Kelleher who has made it very clear he wants to leave at the end of the season. I’d argue he’s better than Kelleher too.”

Alisson has been put through his paces here, that’s for sure.

19 min: Danjuama’s offside and that’s a bit of temporary relief for Liverpool. They are under the cosh. Their fans are making some noise, too. Turns out this wasn’t just a visit to a culinary capital.

17 min: Liverpool really struggling with Girona’s capability in keeping the ball. Few teams in the Premier League do this. Miguel has a shot, and Alisson makes another save. Gil has another shot. Girona by far the better team here.

15 min: Liverpool try to build up some sustained pressure but fail to keep the ball. It’s Girona who are doing the better job in forcing out possession.

14 min: Gil gets beyond the offside trap, and Alisson gallops out to make a save. Where was the flag? Gil slips over and almost gets another shot in. Liverpool look a little wobbly.

12 min: Oof! Girona go close! The ball is played into Gutierrez, and then Alisson is make a save to confirm he is back. Bryan Gill has a snap shot too.

11 min: Mike Mackenze gets in touch: “Not for the 1st time, I’m confused by a Liverpool acquisition. Is Mamadasharvilli better than Kelleher? I have no idea but either he is better or worse or about the same. If Mama is better why would he want to be in Kelleher’s spot only playing when Allison is hurt or else in the League Cup. If he’s the same, then it was a waste to sign him for no gain. If he’s worse, then why bother? In that case might as well just rely on Jaros.”

9 min: Long ball to Danjuma: offside. Van Dijk had called it well.

7 min: Danjuma, once a wild card at Everton as well as Spurs, sets off on a run but is robbed in midfield. Gravenberch picks the ball up, jabs it forward to Nunez, who shoots and has his shot saved. It was on target.

5 min: The next corner sees Bryan Gil asked to clear Girona lines. Joe Gomez – Liverpool’s longest serving player? Has he ever scored? Appears not, the Des Walker of Anfield. Des’s only goal was beauty, mind.

4 min: A corner is given away, and Robertson will take. Virgil van Dijk glides up and there’s some shoving between Blind and Gravenberch. Joe Gomez makes a fine run and the goalie saves well.

2 min: The first attack breaks down and the ball is back with Gazzaniga, long-time associate of Mauricio Pochettino.

Away we go in Girona!

The team are taking to the field at La Liga’s smallest stadium, the Estadi Montilivi. The PA system is booming out into the Catalan night, the Champions League anthem. Not much cover if it rains.

Some background on Girona from our man in Spain.

Their coach Michel.

Arne Slot has been speaking to TNT Sports: “It feels really good to have Alisson back, we didn’t want to take any risk at all. Now he is completely ready to start. We have all seen what a good job Kweev has done.

“Our players are so experienced, they know what it means to play Champions League for this club. I assume they are ready for it, they have to be. The style of Girona is something we have to be aware of.”

Good for Gary O’Neil. Many thought he’d be tinned today. Seems not.

Gillian Kirby gets in touch: “I wonder if Bryan Gil will benefit from a chat with Curtis Jones and TAA afterwards, so that he can practice his accent for his side-gig with The Bootleg Beatles. “

Foodies unite.

Jeremy Boyce: “Hello Peter Oh, having been there I can tell you Girona is also a well-known and magnificent producer of that Spanish heart-attack in a slice, sugary sesame based delicacy Turron. And nougat. “

Justin Kavanagh: “Peter Oh has reminded me of the Xuixo (pronounced Shoo-shoo) I had in Girona last year. The woman who sold it to me told me some fantastical story about its origins involving a guy, a gymnast I recall, breaking into a bakery, as he was infatuated by the baker’s daughter and being caught when the flour made him sneeze (I think!). Girona are not a side to be sneezed at either, but if the Liverpool players have been indulging in the Xuixos, they’ll have fat chance of victory tonight! They’re positively Proustian in their unforgettability.”

More Liverpool and Premier League heritage. More Saudi stuff, too. JL on Stevie G.

Hello, Peter Oh: “I like Liverpool but always maintain a soft spot for the plucky underdog. I don’t know anything about Girona but a quick scan of its specialities shows that sweet sausages (!) and cream-filled deep-fried pastries (!!) are among the top local delicacies. It’s really hard to root against a place like that. May the football be as satisfying as a sugary mash of meat squeezed into a casing of intestine!”

“Hi, I am Graham up late in Shanghai ready to watch the big match.”

Hello, Graham

“Is it just me or does the Girona team look like a bunch of EPL cast offs. Gazzaniga, Blind, Romeu, Bryan Gil, Donny Van de Beek? They all came and gave it a crack but for various reasons were given the boot. Maybe they are gelling in this beautiful part of the world?”

Girona finished third last season in La Liga, and are ninth now. One of the issues of being a sub-club of your City Football Groups is good players get shunted up. Savinho has gone, and that looks a bunch of players loaned and cheaply added. They have struggled in this competition. Aleix Garcia was another good player gone. Football agency is a funny old game.

Yaser Asprilla, no relation, cost £15m from Watford, where a lot was expected of him. Watford is another club of odd transfer business, where it probably makes sense to someone or other. Pau Lopez had some time at Tottenham, too.

Kev gets in touch: “The Holy Goalie is back, feel sorry for Irish Kev. Mind you, a change of the guard next season. No nickname for Mamadasharvilli yet. Thought it will cost a bit to get it on a shirt.”

Kweev had done a fine job. He’s set to be a first-choice somewhere else. Though Alisson Becker does have twangable hamstrings.

Fancy some Football Daily action? By me, actually.

Beyond the goalies, two changes from the Newcastle game for Liverpool.

Trent Alexander-Arnold and Dominik Szoboszlai in, Alexis Mac Allister out altogether and Jarell Quansah benched after a difficult night on Tyneside.

That Girona team would do well as a Barclaysmen team – is that still a cool thing? – Spurs legend Paolo Gazzaniga; two Manchester United legends in Daley Blind and Donny Van de Beek, a Chelsea and Southampton legend in Oriol Romeu and two more Spurs legends in Bryan Gil and Arnaut Danjuma. All it needs is a Georgie Thompson voiceover.

The full teams via PA Media:

Girona: Gazzaniga, Frances, Juanpe, Krejci, Blind, van de Beek, Romeu, Gutierrez, Asprilla, Gil Salvatierra, Danjuma. Subs: Pau Lopez, Lucas Garcia, Arnau Martinez, David Lopez, Stuani, Abel Ruiz, Solis, Martin, Portu, Clua, Kim, Jastin Garcia.

Liverpool: Alisson, Alexander-Arnold, Gomez, van Dijk, Robertson, Szoboszlai, Gravenberch, Jones, Salah, Nunez, Diaz. Subs: Jaros, Kelleher, Endo, Gakpo, Elliott, McConnell, Norris, Quansah.

Referee: Benoit Bastien (France)

Mike’s in, and he’s fighting the power: “Liverpool bench light? Can’t be, I’ve not read countless comments about an injury crisis. Unlike Arsenal and Manchester City who never shut up about it and so get a sympathy note from pundits and presenters.”

Andrew Benton has gone there: “I always thought this song was called My Gerona – by the Knack, way back in the good old days…..”

Now, does anyone know any other songs by The Knack?

Jeremy Boyce gets in touch: “Looking forward to your great-looking MBM appetiser before the evening’s big one, I’m obviously talking about the major Championship mash up between high-flying Leeds and almost-as-high-flying CarrickBro. Girona are not obvious Champions League contenders, hence their results so far ? But it is a stunningly beautiful town once you make it in through the outskirts. Last time I was there we saw a film crew doing an episode of Game of Thrones. Really, THAT beautiful.

“It’s also just a mis-shapen/decorated stone’s throw away from the Costa Brava (Wild Coast), Salvador Dali and Gaudi-land, so Slot’s lot should expect some wild, surreal architectural positioning in how their opponents set up to deal with their attacking threat (Mo Salah). Girona have made the most of their Etihad sponduliks, and I’m sure it would go down well in Manchester if they could do one on the reds tonight. All the same, 1 – 3, eh ?”

I have been to the Costa Brava. Calella de la Costa. Watched the 1994 World Cup final there. Apart from our party of six lads from Cheshire everyone else there was German or Danish. The music was either Whigfield, Gabber techno or grunge metal. A fantastic fortnight. I have also been to Girona airport on a number of occasions. It’s about as near Barcelona as London Southend is from London.

Confirmed: Alisson is back

Tonight’s Champions League fixtures, UK times.

• Dinamo Zagreb v Celtic, 17:45

• Girona v Liverpool, 17:45

• Brest v PSV, 20:00

• Shakhtar Donetsk v Bayern Munich, 20:00

• Club Brugge v Sporting, 20:00

• RB Salzburg v PSG, 20:00

• RB Leipzig v Aston Villa, 20:00

• Bayer Leverkusen v Inter, 20:00

• Atalanta v Real Madrid, 20:00

Could this be the night Alisson returns? Last seen at Crystal Palace in October, and out for longer than expected. Caoimhin Kelleher has done just fine, though his error against Newcastle had Liverpool fans yearning for the Brazilian.

The Champions League has been rather different to what many expected. Has it actually been better? There’s a case for that. Perhaps it’s the novelty value.

Yet some voices within European football urge caution and believe bigger scores are a consequence, intended or not, of the expanded format’s rules. The argument is persuasive: with so many teams bunched together, and goal difference certain to be a deciding factor for key positions in the table, many have simply appreciated the benefits of turning the screw. It can effectively count for the extra point that separates success from early elimination. Previously, the restrictive head-to-head rule had been the tie-breaker for league‑phase deadlocks.

Preamble