Oh my, Girona! Catalan club top LaLiga, make history ahead of Real Madrid's visit on Saturday
On Saturday night, Real Madrid’s match in Catalunya will determine the leaders of LaLiga after eight rounds of matches. Nothing unusual about that, you may think. Except there is – because Los Blancos’ opponents this weekend are not their fierce rivals Barcelona, but little Girona.
Barcelona may have edged out Sevilla by a single (own) goal – scored by Sergio Ramos of all people – on Friday to move provisionally into first place, but heading into this latest round of fixtures, Girona sat proudly on top of the table for the first time in their history.
After a creditable draw at Real Sociedad on the opening weekend, Girona have beaten Getafe, Sevilla, Las Palmas, Granada, Mallorca and Villarreal. One draw and six straight wins, 19 points and +10 goal difference. Impressive.
Girona are playing in LaLiga for just the fourth season in their 93-year existence. Their stadium, Montilivi, holds only 14,624 fans and some of the stands are held up by scaffolding. Their annual wage budget (€51.98m) is one of the lowest in the competition and in the summer, several of their best players left the club.
Midfielder Oriol Romeu joined Barcelona, winger Rodrigo Riquelme went to Atlético Madrid, centre-back Santi Bueno signed for Wolves and top scorer Taty Castellanos moved to Lazio. Castellanos, incidentally, netted all four Girona goals as the Catalans famously beat Real Madrid 4-2 at Montilivi last season.
“Nobody expected a situation like this,” coach Míchel said this week. “To have 19 points out of 21 at this stage is not easy. The city and the fans are happy and we are very proud of our players.” And on Saturday’s game against Madrid, he added: “We know it will be difficult and we will have to suffer, but we have a clear idea of how to play and we won’t lose our identity.”
So far, that plan has worked wonders. Míchel, who took Rayo Vallecano and Huesca into LaLiga before losing his job both times the following season, has embraced Girona. On the pitch, the team’s intensity and attacking style has made him popular; off it, his desire to speak Catalan has also won praise in a city where support for independence from Spain is at a high. They have embraced him and stuck with him when times were tough. “That was their wisest decision,” the club’s former coach Pablo Machín said this week.
Girona’s population is under 100,000. Up until a few years ago, the city was not really on the football map in Spain. Now owned by Pep Guardiola’s brother Pere and the City Football Group, that has changed, but this remains the story of a small side punching above its weight.
Ultimately, staying in LaLiga is the goal this season, but the red and whites are half way there already with only seven games played. So why not dream? Another victory over Madrid would be very special indeed. “This is wonderful,” Míchel said after the win at Villarreal. “And I hope it carries on for a long, long time yet.”
Given that success this term has come despite departures of key players in the summer, there is no reason why it should not. And whatever happens, it will certainly be entertaining. With a 5-3 and a 4-2 already this season, Girona are the most exciting team to watch in LaLiga right now and statistically the best team in the competition so far in 2023-24 as well.
On Saturday night, Míchel’s men are up against the 35-time LaLiga winners and 14-time European champions, a club with an annual wage budget of €727.45m – almost 14 times greater than their own. “You can count on the fingers of one hand the matches Real Madrid aren’t favourites in,” Míchel said. And he is right. The Catalans won’t be expected to win, of course, but they weren’t last season either. And if they do, they’ll be back on top of LaLiga. What a story.