Girona are experiencing a historic season — and things got even better on Sunday when they embarrassed their Catalan neighbours Barcelona 4-2 to move back to the top of La Liga, two points ahead of second-placed Real Madrid and seven clear of Barca and Atletico Madrid.
But even after their record-breaking start — the best in La Liga history outside Spanish football’s aforementioned traditional big three — Opta gives Girona a minimal chance of winning their first league title at just 2.2 per cent compared to Madrid’s 80.7 per cent.
Is that fair? Manager Michel’s team are punching above their weight, even with their City Football Group (CFG) backing, and have also been hugely adaptable.
This is why they are worthy contenders — and more than capable of mixing it with Spain’s big boys.
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At the end of that win against Barca at Montjuic, a familiar song rang out from the visiting dressing room: Gala’s Freed From Desire. It is a Eurodance classic to some and an ode to Will Grigg to others, but for Girona it has become synonymous with their incredible rise.
Their players heard the song over the stadium speakers before the second division play-off final win against Tenerife in June 2022. A year earlier, they had thrown away a 2-1 lead against Rayo Vallecano to miss out on promotion and the year before that a 97th-minute winner denied them a La Liga return.
Now they are back and play the song almost every week. The first win against Barca in their 93-year history might have felt like a shock to some viewers, but an ability to adapt under pressure has helped Girona upset the odds throughout the season.
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No team in Europe’s big five leagues have gained more than their 19 points from losing positions this season, while no La Liga side have generated more expected goals (xG) per 100 touches while chasing games. In other words, Girona almost always turn up the heat when they need it most.
A clear example came in a recent 2-1 away win against Rayo Vallecano, as they brought the hosts’ eight-game unbeaten run to an end.
Michel’s side conceded following a defensive ricochet after five minutes and looked breathless and leggy in the face of an intense Rayo press. Eric Garcia was then dispossessed in a dangerous position two minutes after that opener, allowing Oscar Valentin to flash another warning shot just wide.
Girona persisted with their patient, possession-based style, however, and emerged from heavy pressure with a foothold in the game thanks to their staying power.
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They created their first big chance, for striker Artem Dovbyk, on 21 minutes. That move started with Garcia punching a pass to winger Viktor Tsygankov in Girona’s constantly revolving 3-2-5 build-up shape.
The swirling movement that goes into creating the opening is typical of this Girona side: Ivan Martin drops off to show for the ball while Yangel Herrera, the deep-lying midfielder, finds himself out on the wing. Martin’s run creates space for Girona’s actual wide player, Tsygankov, to dart inside and receive the pass.
The Ukrainian is adept in tight spaces and cushions the ball back to Martin, who quickly moves the play out to Herrera. Tsygankov’s movement has dragged Rayo full-back Alfonso Espino inside, leaving Herrera with acres of space on the wing.
Notice too the advanced positioning of Girona’s left-back — although he is much more than that, more of which later — Miguel Gutierrez, dragging Rayo’s dangerous winger Isi Palazon back into a defensive position, and opposite full-back Andrei Ratiu inside.
Herrera swings the ball over everybody to Savio, the winger who is free on the opposite side and now charges into the space created by Miguel’s movement.
The Brazilian cuts the ball back, before it is helped on to Dovbyk. The striker’s dragged back-heel effort is cleared off the line.
Girona’s relentless rotations manipulate their opponent’s shape. They speed things up with quick combination play to move into those lucrative pockets of space.
Five minutes later, it is defender Daley Blind who moves into midfield. Garcia fires the ball in to Herrera, this time drifting into the central pocket himself.
It is a passing move that ultimately ends with centre-back Blind, the striker Dovbyk and the left-back Miguel all combining with short passes in the opposition penalty area.
From stuttering possession play to slick, confident combinations in 20 minutes, no team in Spain clicks into gear so seamlessly when they need to score.
Girona’s equaliser eventually arrived after a devastating counter-attack, before Savio bundled in the winner midway through the second half after a rapid one-two in the penalty area.
They ended the game with an open-play expected goals figure of 4.49 — only Bayern Munich, in an 8-0 win over newly promoted, nine-man Darmstadt have generated more in a single game across Europe’s big five leagues this season.
Girona were never actually behind in their historic win at Montjuic, Barca’s temporary home while Camp Nou is renovated, but all four of their goals felt like crushing counter-punches in which they escaped pressure quickly before attacking spaces with devastating efficiency. They had 15 attempts on goal, six of them classified as “big chances” by Opta.
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Once again, their variety in build-up play combined with brave movement and quick forward passes created those all-important overloads.
Barcelona weren’t pulled apart like Rayo were and guarded their left side closely. But, as Martin again dropped into midfield, playing a sharp one-two with Aleix Garcia, Miguel exploited space on the opposite side.
Take a bow Miguel Gutiérrez! 🤯
Girona take the lead against Barcelona yet again thanks to a stunner 🔴⚪ pic.twitter.com/vPHWd2Cbzu
— Viaplay Sports UK (@ViaplaySportsUK) December 10, 2023
The left-back’s changing roles throughout the season typify Girona’s attention to detail when it comes to match preparation and in-game tweaks.
Miguel is the complete modern full-back, almost always drifting into central spaces to help the build-up, but the below graphic illustrates his importance in tactical battles.
Against Getafe in August, his main concern was picking up the ball in the half-space and progressing the ball against one of the division’s toughest low-block sides.
He stayed wide and ran the left flank away against Osasuna last month, teaming up with Savio to complete eight progressive carries in a wing-back role. In his four most recent performances, meanwhile, he has racked up more touches in the opposition penalty area than he managed in his previous 28 La Liga games combined.
That kind of versatility has helped propel Girona to the top of La Liga.
While CFG’s involvement in the project has been a valid cause of disillusionment for many onlookers, it’s still a remarkable achievement for a club who were playing fifth-tier football in 1999. For all the benefits that come with being part of Manchester City’s global stable of clubs, Girona’s league-imposed salary cap of around €52million ($57m; £45m) is almost 14 times smaller than Real Madrid’s €727.5m.
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Girona held their Christmas party this week, with around 120 people, from players to coaches, board members to the canteen staff, coming together to celebrate their part in the club’s success. Club president Delfi Geli gave a toast to having already achieved their objective for 2023-24: securing their La Liga spot for the 2024-25 season.
They will not be too concerned by that figure of 2.2 per cent, then.
While the statistical models might not give Girona much hope of winning an unprecedented title, the inventiveness of their movement and incisive forward play is keeping them fresh — and in with a very reasonable chance of causing their biggest upset yet at the end of the season.
(Top photo: David Ramos/Getty Images)