It was a gratifying experience in India - Eusebio Sacritsan

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The Spanish side scored 11 goals and conceded none in two games at the tournament.

The Toyota Yaris La Liga World ended as a ride without bumps for La Liga side Girona FC in India. Playing a part of their pre-season in the tournament, the team that finished 10th last season in La Liga, cruised to 6-0 and 5-0 wins against A-League side Melbourne City FC and ISL outfit Kerala Blasters.

Eusebio Sacristan, the manager, looked content with the result. Captain Alex Granell thanked the crowd and said that his side were happy with the inferences they are taking back home. Meanwhile, the manager surprised one and all, changing most of the playing XI that started against Melbourne, after having stated to the contrary the other day.

“The players were the same, just different minutes,” said Eusebio, when asked about the changes he made to the starting XI. Talking about the difference between Kerala Blasters and Melbourne City, the manager added, “Melbourne are far ahead into their pre-season and thus, were better physically and tactically. It is early for Kerala at the moment, but as the season comes close, I’m sure they’ll get better.”

“The Indian experience has been good. The players are content, the training staff has been happy with the games and we have enjoyed the time here. The crowd was fantastic and I would like to congratulate all the people who turned out for our matches. Overall, it was a gratifying experience to be in India and play such a fantastic tournament,” Sacristan harped on the positives.

Talking about transfers, Girona’s man-at-the-helm did not reveal much. “The youngsters are being tried out and they’ll have their chances. If we feel we need to add someone to help the squad improve, we’ll do that eventually. But, at the moment, we’re happy with the squad and the youngsters will get chances to perform.”

Analysing the players and talent at Kerala Sacristan sounded positive. “The team needs to work physically, but they’re good tactically and football-wise. They need to spend more time on physicality and that’s where they’re lacking in terms of Europe and other leagues.”

After some thought he added, “The technical aspect is key and as the league grows, the players are going to improve with time and are going to turn better.”

The former Real Sociedad manager signed off, “We have some tough matches coming up in our pre-season. We take on Premier League giants Tottenham Hotspur in August and that should be a good match. I can confidently say we will be the team to watch out for once the season begins.”

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Kerala Blasters suffered two consecutive defeats against Melbourne City and Girona respectively. Speaking to the press after the match was Kerala's coach David James.

Firstly, he explained the quality Girona possess. "Girona are a La Liga team. La Liga is one of the best leagues in the world, I think one of the top four domestic leagues in the world. They are capable of defeating teams."

Despiting suffering another humiliating defeat, James sounded positive with his team’s performance. ”The match has been positive, given that we played Melbourne, lost 6-0, Melbourne lost 6-0 last night to the team we lost 0-5.”

The Englishman also emphasized the need for playing against tougher opposition who ply their trade in tougher competitions as he said, “The players get a chance to play against players in one of the best leagues. There was a lot of pride at stake especially after our Melbourne game.”

Girona played two games in India and scored 11 goals. Speaking about that the tactician said, “I think every team in India would need to improve to be at the standard of Girona. They’re in one of the best leagues, domestically.”