Girona FC are out to prove that they have not been spending a lot of time on top of the La Liga table this season on a fluke. In fact, they have proven themselves to be serious title contenders by winning 4-2 away against FC Barcelona on Sunday. The victory allowed them to open up a two-point advantage over Real Madrid, who dropped points earlier this weekend after a draw with Real Betis.
Heading into the weekend, Real Madrid held the top spot but were tied on 38 points with Girona. Los Blancos were favourites to open up a gap this weekend, but they could only come away with a point from their 1-1 draw against Betis.
Barcelona dropped to fourth in @LaLiga after a first-ever loss to Girona. pic.twitter.com/6VkZuHb2jj
— e360hubs football (@e360hub2) December 11, 2023
The reigning champions, FC Barcelona, were only four points behind, and were looking forward to the opportunity to edge closer to the top spot. Alas, the football Gods had other plans.
Girona manufactured a convincing victory against their Catalan neighbours thanks to goals from Artem Dovbyk, Miguel Gutierrez, Valery Fernandez and Cristhian Stuani. It was their first ever league win over the Blaugrana.
The victory against the reigning champions has now proven that Girona can't be ruled out as title contenders. At the start of the campaign, they had great results against many of the weaker teams, allowing them to stay at the top of the table. They were overtaken a couple of times by Real Madrid briefly, and fans were quick to suggest that the tide will turn once Girona faces tougher competition.
They lost to Los Blancos back in October, but this victory over Barcelona is something that has given them great credibility. Girona are now seven points ahead of both Atletico Madrid and Barcelona, who are tied at 34 points each.
Girona showed quality against the bigger team
Ukraine forward Dovbyk's opened up the score sheet after only 12 minutes, thanks to an assist from fellow Ukraine international Viktor Tsyhankov. Barcelona forward Robert Lewandowski managed to find an answer through a header just seven minutes later from a corner. However, Girona did not let that dampen their spirits.
Spanish youngster Gutierrez put the visitors back in the lead five minutes before half-time, and Barcelona struggled to respond throughout the second half.
It was Girona who scored again through Fernandez in the 80th minute, but the home side managed to pull one back to make it 2-3 via Gundogan at 90+2. However, Stuani put the exclamation point in Girona's evening by scoring again at 90+5 minutes.
Girona aiming for fairytale ending
Just like most of the big football leagues, La Liga has its usual suspects which are considered to be favourites to win the title. While there are some surprise pretenders to the throne that emerge every few years, no one would have predicted how well Girona have consistently been performing in the ongoing campaign.
The Matchday 16 clash between FC Barcelona and Girona FC would have been seen as a walk in the park for Xavi Hernandez and his boys if you were to ask any football fan just a few months ago. However, it turned out to be a match that could play a huge role in determining this season's winners.
Girona manager Míchel has made the Catalan derby a top-of-the-table clash, and now the underdogs have emerged on top of everyone else. Their latest win came away from home, making it clear that they are a force to be reckoned with whether they are hosting or travelling. in fact, they have already won seven away games so far, drawn one and are still undefeated.
Barcelona and Girona have previously only met six times in La Liga, owing to the fact that the latter have barely spent any time on the top flight compared to their opponents. In the six previous meetings, Barcelona have won four times and drawn twice. Their seventh encounter resulted in Barcelona's first loss, making it clear that Girona mean business and could win the league and secure a Champions League spot next year.
