In the current season, there are only two Catalan sides playing in La Liga, FC Barcelona and Girona. But it is not only geography that puts the two clubs close to each other, as they also have only a six-point difference on the league table, with Girona taking the second spot and Barcelona in the third.
There is also a close sporting association between the two clubs, with several players exchanged on loan. Pau Victor, who is owned by Girona, is playing for Barcelona Atletic, while Eric Garcia and Pablo Torre have gone the other way to play under Michel this season.
While Eric Garcia quickly established himself as a clear starter in his new team, Pablo Torre is having a roller coaster of a season. He found it difficult to get into the starting eleven for Michel initially, but an opportunity arose with Yangel Herrera’s injury at the start of this year, and Torre impressed whenever he got on the pitch.
However, with Herrera’s return and Portu’s improving form, Torre is finding minutes hard to come by once again. In the last three games, the loanee had only 17 minutes against Sevilla, none against Celta, and 20 against Real Sociedad.
But as SPORT has noted, stars might be aligning for Torre to get a chance in one of the most anticipated games in this second half of La Liga. Girona are set to face Real Madrid in a game that will have important implications for the league, as both sides are separated only by two points at the summit of the table.
For this match, Yangel Herrera is suspended, and Torre can again get a chance to replace him. Portu might put up some competition for this spot in the team, but if Artem Dobvyk is not 100% fit, Michel might have to play Portu higher up on the pitch.
Thus, Torre might get on the pitch in one of the most important games for his side this season. The youngster will not get too many opportunities to showcase his talents at such a level, so he should be working to take as much advantage of this tie as possible.
