Top of the Table Girona: Who are they?

If you like watching European football, in La Liga, there are generally only three teams at the top of the table in the last 10 years: Real Madrid, Barcelona, and Atletico Madrid. So, it was a shock when, in their fourth season in La Liga, Girona is currently at the top of the league by two points at the time of writing this. With 10 wins out of 12 and in the league's smallest stadium, this could be an exciting season to keep an eye on La Liga if you don’t already.  

So, let's discuss who Girona is and their key players for this season.  

Looking at their history, there is a history before 2017 and a history after 2017, which we will discuss below.

Football became particularly interesting in Girona at the beginning of the 20th century. The first major club in the city was Strong Esport, founded in 1902 under the original name of FC Gerundense. In the 1920s in Girona, there were two new clubs, CE Gironí and UD Girona. After the disappearance of the UD Girona, it was decided to create a new football team in the city. This was when the current Girona was born. On 23 July 1930, in the café Norat in La Rambla of Girona, Girona Futbol Club was founded upon the dissolution of Unió Esportiva Girona for economic reasons. The team entered the second division of the Catalan Championships. Its first official match was against Colònia Artigas. The team moved up the divisions to when, in the 1935–36 season, Girona played in Segunda División, and the club finished in the top position in its group, subsequently appearing in the playoff stage but finishing second from bottom, thus out of the La Liga promotion zone.

After the Spanish Civil War, the club fluctuated between the second level and Tercera División, falling into the latter category in 1959 and being further demoted in 1980 to Segunda División B was created as the new division three in 1977, and the club lasted three years in the competition. In the following decades, Girona alternated between the third and the fourth divisions, even spending three seasons in the regional championships.

On 22 July 2010, a group of local businessmen led by Ramon Vilaró, Joaquim Boadas and Josep Slim purchased 72% of the club's shares, becoming the new owners of Girona. On the last matchday of the 2014–15 season, Girona needed to beat Lugo at home to earn promotion to La Liga but were denied by a last-minute goal by the visitors. Girona had to settle for a playoff place but was eliminated in the semi-finals by Real Zaragoza despite winning the first leg 3–0. The following season, they reached the playoff final but were defeated by Osasuna. Girona finally earned promotion to La Liga after the 2016–17 season as they finished runners-up to Levante. This was the first time Girona had been promoted to La Liga in their 87-year history. 

On 23 August 2017, City Football Group (CFG) purchased 44.3% ownership in Girona. Another 44.3% was held by Girona Football Group, led by Pere Guardiola, the brother of CFG-owned Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola. On 29 October 2017, Girona recorded a memorable victory, defeating reigning European Cup winners Real Madrid 2–1. On the last match day of the 2018–19 La Liga season, Girona was relegated to Segunda Division, ending their two-year spell in the top Spanish tier. In the 2021–22 season Girona finished sixth in the Segunda Division but managed to achieve promotion to La Liga after winning the playoff final 3–1 on aggregate against Tenerife. 

Girona made a stellar campaign in their return to La Liga in the 2022-23 season, finishing in 10th place with 49 points, 4 points away from a UEFA Europa Conference League playoff spot.

In the 2023-24 season, Girona reached the Top 4 of La Liga for the first time after 2 matches, soon coming to the top of the La Liga table after 7 games with 19 points, the club's best-ever start in Topflight football.

As you can imagine, Girona's current squad is a part of the CFG. They have some talented players either at the club on loan or permanently.  A couple of the players on loan is 19-year-old Brazilian winger Savio, who has three goals and four assists so far this season and is on loan from Troyes. Right-sided dynamo Yan Couto, 21 years old, is the only loan from Manchester City. One of the key players for Girona this season is Aleix Garcia, is another former City man. Garcia made nine first-team appearances for the Premier League club between 2015 and 2017 but has flourished since returning to Spain and is currently leading the La Liga charts for ball touches and passes into the final third.

Working within a tight budget, Girona has picked other players such as former Manchester United player Daley Blind, Miguel Gutierrez from Real Madrid and central defender Eric Garcia on loan from Barcelona. However, Girona has a lot of talent 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. Tsygankov has registered five goals and seven assists in his 29 appearances for the club, while Dovbyk has more goals 6 and assists 4 per 90 minutes than any other player in La Liga this season.

Girona are a team that looks to be able to challenge the big three for the title this season. They are a team to watch out for and see if they can maintain this season. They can look forward to their first season with European football if they can.  

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