How La Liga club moved ahead of Real Madrid and Barcelona to top table
Not reigning champions Barcelona. Not Jude Bellingham’s Real Madrid. Not even perennial title candidates Atletico Madrid.
The team sitting two points clear at the top of La Liga, with 10 wins from their opening 12 games, are tiny Girona, playing only their fourth-ever top-flight season and possessing the league’s smallest stadium.
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BBC Sport explores how they’ve done it.
The story of Girona’s success starts 1,000 miles to the north, in Manchester.
In 2017, Girona were one of the first clubs to become part of the global Manchester City Football Group (CFG) network. Ever since, they have benefited from City’s expertise and organisational structure.
Girona also benefit from City’s players, receiving a steady trickle of young talents either being prepared for potential Premier League action, deemed not quite good enough for Pep Guardiola’s plans or simply being put in the shop window.
For example, striker Taty Castellanos netted 14 goals for Girona last season on loan from New York City FC, another CFG club, and was then sold to Lazio for a reported 20m euros.
The current Girona squad features a plethora of players with City connections.
Explosive 19-year old Brazilian winger Savio, who has three goals and four assists so far this season and looks set for a sparkling future, is on loan from CFG club Troyes. Right-sided dynamo Yan Couto, 21 years old, has been borrowed directly from City. Aggressive midfielder Yangel Herrera, who has scored four goals and ranks second in La Liga for fouls conceded, was signed from City after spending last season on loan.
And, perhaps Girona’s most important player, midfield orchestrator Aleix Garcia, is another former City man. Garcia made nine first-team appearances for the Premier League club between 2015 and 2017 but has really flourished since returning to his native Spain, currently leading La Liga charts for ball touches and passes into the final third.
Girona’s City links run deep on and off the pitch – the club’s executive president is none other than Pere Guardiola, Pep’s brother. And the clearly defined CFG philosophy filters from the top down to the pitch, all the way to an attacking, possession-based style with the use of inverted full-backs.
It would be very wrong, however, to think of Girona as some kind of City Lite. The CFG ownership is just one of many factors in their success.
Alongside a handful of decision-makers with City connections, the club is also run by two local men whose long history at the helm has provided great stability and clarity of purpose.
Club president Delfi Geli started and finished his playing career with Girona, representing Barcelona and Atletico Madrid in between, before returning in an administrative capacity in 2015.
Sporting director Quique Carcel is another Catalan, starting out in Barcelona’s youth ranks and appearing for various lower-league clubs before taking up his current role in 2014.
Carcel has earned particular praise this season – and a new contract until 2027 – for his clever development of the squad with signings from both near and far.
Working within a tight budget, Carcel picked up cheap quality such as former Manchester United defender Daley Blind, young left-back Miguel Gutierrez from Real Madrid and central defender Eric Garcia – another ex-Manchester City player – on loan from Barcelona.
Carcel’s scouting network, with the help of Guardiola, also identified a couple of gems from Ukraine. Attacking midfielder Viktor Tsygankov arrived midway through last season from Dynamo Kyiv, while frontman Artem Dovbyk was signed in the summer from Dnipro-1.
The elegant Tsygankov has registered five goals and seven assists in his 29 appearances for the club, while Dovbyk has more goals (six) and assists (four) per 90 minutes than any other player in La Liga this season.