Eibar head into the second leg of their Segunda Division playoff semi-final with Girona holding a 1-0 advantage from the opening fixture.
Whoever prevails from this tie will square off against either Tenerife or Las Palmas in the final later this month, the winners earning promotion to La Liga.
Match preview
© Reuters
The past week has been a difficult period for Eibar, the club missing out on the title and automatic promotion to La Liga courtesy of a final-day defeat.
Eibar would have been promoted with a goalless draw at Alcorcon, but conceding a last-minute goal to their lowly opponents resulted in a third-placed finish.
To their credit, Gaizka Garitano's were able to respond in the first leg of this contest, a first-half goal from Ager Aketxe proving to be the difference.
The win was made all the more impressive due to Eibar playing the entire second half with 10 men, a consequence of Alvaro Tejero's dismissal for two yellow cards.
Despite being required to work harder than they would have liked, Los Armeros at least showed that they had the character to shake off the previous frustrations.
From Girona's perspective, they were simply grateful to earn a spot in the playoffs after a poor return during the run-in.
Just 10 points were recorded during their final eight fixtures, and a goalless draw at Burgos was required on the final day to ensure that they remained ahead of Real Oviedo.
Head coach Michel would have recognised that his team were outsiders heading into the playoffs, but he was left discouraged given his team's failure to make their player advantage count on Thursday.
Girona are also attempting to defeat Eibar for the first time this campaign, their opponents prevailing 4-2 and 1-0 during the regular season.
- W
- L
- W
- W
- L
- W
- W
- L
- L
- W
- D
- L
Team News
© Reuters
With Tejero serving a one-match ban for Eibar, Tono Garcia will likely be drafted into the starting lineup at left-back.
However, it was Anaitz Arbilla who initially came on during the reshuffle in the first leg, and a recall for the centre-back in a different formation cannot be ruled out.
Veteran forward Fernando Llorente - now 37 years of age - should start the game among the replacements.
Michel threw caution to the wind when Eibar went down to 10 men on Thursday, but the move did not pay off as they failed to get on the scoresheet.
Changes are expected to be few and far between, although Nahuel Bustos could be recalled to the side on one of the flanks.
Eibar possible starting lineup:
Cantero; Correa, Venancio, Rodriguez, Garcia; Exposito, Alvarez; Corpas, Aketxe, Gonzalez; Sol
Girona possible starting lineup:
Juan Carlos; Martinez, Bueno, Espinosa, Juanpe, Izquierdo; Baena, Garcia, Lozano, Bustos; Stuani
We say: Eibar 1-1 Girona (Eibar to prevail 2-1 on aggregate)
Although playoff ties do not always go with the form book, we cannot ignore how Girona's performances have been far more inconsistent in the short term. With that in mind, we feel that Eibar will just about do enough to earn a place in the final, even if it means a draw being played out on the night.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
