Midfielder Oriol Romeu once played for VfB Stuttgart in the Bundesliga for a season. With his new club FC Girona, the Spaniard now meets FC Barcelona in LaLiga – where he once trained in the youth academy. Oriol has a clear plan against Barca.
FC Girona is one of the big surprises of the current season in Spain. As eleventh in the table, the promoted team currently has nothing to do with the relegation battle, and coach Míchel’s team sometimes impresses with an offensive and ball-possession-oriented style of play.
Right in the middle: Oriol Romeu, whom the Stuttgart fans in particular should know from the 2014/15 season. At that time, the Spaniard was on loan from Chelsea to the Swabians. In the end, he helped to just about prevent relegation to the House of Commons.
The 31-year-old now meets his former club and LaLiga leaders FC Barcelona in the Catalan derby on Saturday (4:15 p.m.). Oriol was once trained in La Masia together with superstars like ex-Bayern professional Thiago.
“It’s always nice to play against Barcelona. I’ve been there for a long time,” Oriol told Romeu sport.de in a media round: “At the moment there are only one or two players from my time there, such as Sergio Busquets. It’s always fun to play against the best. They always have a lot of talented players in their team. Such games are a big challenge , a great motivation. I love that.”
Ex-Stuttgarter Oriol: Barca’s top stars should get tired
Oriol naturally expects a “tough game”, but also expects chances: “We have to work better against the ball than against Villarreal (0-1 defeat on matchday 18, editor’s note). We have to in our Defending the half well and needing more possession themselves. Barca aren’t really comfortable without the ball at their feet. That would allow us to create more chances, apply pressure and ask them questions.”
Players “like Gavi and Pedri” would also have to be persuaded by his team to “run behind the ball”. Barca’s creative department needs to get tired, “that gives us chances”.
Oriol, who at the age of just 22 was already champion of the Champions League with Chelsea and Spanish champion with Barcelona, wants to use his experience to help his new club. “My role is to help the younger ones. We’re a team that wants possession and I want to help with that.”
By the way: In 2014, Oriol, at that time with FC Valencia, had already played against Barcelona – and won. “But that was a long time ago, it was a completely different team,” said Oriol.