Girona take on Granada on Friday with the first match of the final round of fixtures in La Liga’s 2023-24 season. Neither team has anything to play, but one player does – Artem Dovbyk. The 26-year-old is in a direct battle with Villarreal’s Alexander Sorloth for the Pichichi Trophy.
After scoring four against Real Madrid last weekend, Sorloth leads the way on 23 goals, with Dovbyk on 21. The Girona marksman will need to score at least to take the lead in the race before Villarreal visit Osasuna later in the week (Dovbyk has more assists, so he wins if they finish level on goals).
Despite Dovbyk needing goals to catch up, Girona manager Michel Sanchez has confirmed that Girona won’t play any differently than usual, with no plans to play into Dovbyk’s hands – quotes via Diario AS.
“Granada are a team that I’m convinced will come to win. We need to finish the season in the best way, which is by winning. Then if it’s with two goals from Dovbyk, all the better. But it will be difficult and it is true that he has the possibility of getting the Pichichi. First you have to win. The best thing about this year is that we scored 78 goals, with a lot of players involved in it, and we had a lot of chances to find the back of the net. The important thing is to win the game.
“We have to win the game, which for me is the most important thing. I don’t think a game can be prepared for a player, I don’t understand football in this way. I prepare the games so that the team plays well, is above the opponent or tries and wins. It’s true that, if the opponent takes a penalty, of course, we prefer Dovbyk to take it. But in the game it’s impossible to look at just one player, it would be a mistake on our part.”
Girona and Dovbyk are more than capable of scoring several goals at Montilivi on Friday night, and there’s no doubt that Sorloth will be watching on intently.
