Toyota Yaris La Liga World: Marc Muniesa eager to make a mark for Girona FC

KOCHI: He’s done it on a cold rainy night in Stoke a countless number of times. But the question now will be whether former Stoke City defender Marc Muniesa can do it on a cold rainy night in Kochi as he is all set to take on Melbourne City FC and Kerala Blasters FC in the Toyota Yaris La Liga World at the Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium here on Friday and Saturday.

Muniesa, now heading into his second season with Girona FC, after spending four seasons under Mark Hughes at Stoke in the English Premier League arrived in Kerala on Thursday after a week’s training at the Manchester City Football Academy in England. And he will look to continue his preparations with the team in Kochi ahead of the La Liga opener against Real Valladolid on August 17.

“It is two really important fixtures for us because we know we have to play really well. We have a new coach in Eusebio Sacristan, who is teaching us to play a different kind of football from last season. Everyone’s saying that we haven’t scored enough goals in the pre-season. But our objective is to reach our peak fitness for the start of the Spanish season,” Muniesa told Express.

Girona, who saw the departure of former manager Pablo Machin to Sevilla FC this summer, will face Tottenham Hotspur on August 4 before domestic league games against Valladolid and European champions Real Madrid — a team that they defeated 2-1 at their home Estadi Montilivi last season. “We managed to defeat Real and get two draws against Atletico Madrid. It was good to finish 10th in the club’s first-ever top-flight campaign,” he said.

The Catalonian club was in contention for a Europa League spot until the end of the season but eventually missed out. “We were feeling a bit of pressure towards the end and this season too, fans will have a lot of expectations. But we are still a new team in La Liga. Our objective again is to stay up in the league and maybe compete for bigger things,” said the 26-year-old centre-back.

Muniesa has come up against Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi a handful of times and rates them very highly. “It’s incredible playing against them. Cristiano surprises me because he is supremely fit even at 33. He almost always scores when he gets a chance inside the box. Messi, on the other hand, is different and I was lucky to have trained with him a lot. He likes to have the ball, make passes and create assists. They are for me the two best players in the world,” said the Barcelona youth product.

adwaidh@newindianexpress.com