Girona were able to grind out a 2-1 win as Abel Ruiz and Yaser Asprilla had the hosts ahead before a late effort from Fabio Silva.
Michel said afterwards: "Winning in the Primera Division is very difficult. The first half was very good, we had chances to make it 2-0 and we would have come close to winning. With 1-0 the team was thinking more about the result than the game. After four consecutive defeats and three comebacks by the rival, I think we were a little afraid. It was important to win and we had internalized that.
“It is a good and necessary victory. The players did not celebrate the victory and I do not understand it.
“When the team plays well it is easy but we need our people in the most difficult moments. We play for them and on the field the footballer needs the support of his people.”
On Asprilla, he added: “He is a difference-maker who is not yet in his best form. After the Christmas break he had problems with his ankle, he had been playing games with an injection and he is not well. We need him, he must work and I want him to be a player who gives 100% in training to get the form I need.”