Michel has urged his Girona players to finish 2024 strongly to set them up for a successful second half of the season, starting with Mallorca in LaLiga this Saturday.

After 16 games this season, Girona find themselves ninth in the table, struggling to strike a balance between their Champions League and domestic commitments. 

Michel's side were beaten 1-0 by Liverpool on Tuesday, leaving them 30th in the 36-team table, leaving them with a slim chance of reaching the knockout stages. 

And up next for Girona is Mallorca, who sit one place above them in the LaLiga table, but have lost their last two league games to Barcelona and Celta Vigo. 

A victory for Michel's side could move them as high as sixth, and the Girona head coach acknowledged the importance of their upcoming fixture to their overall campaign. 

"It is a key match. There are three games left to finish the first round, and we have to see how many points we have to collect to gauge where we will be in the standings," Michel told reporters on Friday.

"Mallorca is above us but if we win things will change. We need to win games to be at the top, that is what I have told the players. There are three key games left to face the second round well and with guarantees."

And Girona could be in for another difficult encounter at the Estadi Mallorca Son Moix, despite not losing their last two LaLiga matches (W1 D1), which is their longest away unbeaten run in the competition this campaign.

They have won only one of their 12 away games against Mallorca across all competitions (D3 L8), winning 1-0 in LaLiga back in May 2015.

Michel has also lost his last two meetings with Mallorca in all competitions, this after going unbeaten in his first three managerial matches against them (W2 D1).

And the Girona head coach lamented his side's recent poor return in front of goal, having failed to score in their last three matches in all competitions, and is hopeful of improvements moving forward. 

"When you have the score in your favour, everything is easier to control in the game," Michel said.

"That's why it's very important to be able to score first and we have not scored in three games. This means we have to improve, nothing more.

"Football has a lot of equality and the small details mark the result a lot, so I think we have to control these small details better."