Are Girona in La Liga getting something from Leicester?

Are Girona in La Liga getting something from Leicester? “No, it can’t occur once more. Fairy tales have their place in literature and film, not in football. if not less regularly.” After seeing Girona FC’s enormous gains in La Liga, football fans everywhere must be thinking this.

A global craze of sorts gripped the football community seven years ago when Leicester City defeated the favorites, Manchester City, Manchester United, Chelsea, and so on, to win the Premier League. At the time, their first victory in their 132-year history.

Girona FC seems to be heading in the same direction. The Catalan team, which was founded in 1930, is currently atop the La Liga standings after defeating Rayo Vallecano on Saturday. With 11 victories in 13 games, they lead 35-time champion Real Madrid and 27-time champion Barcelona.

For a team that is only making its fourth appearance in the Spanish top division, this is no small accomplishment. And that was just a short while ago, from 2017 to 2018. They were demoted after two seasons in the top level of Spain, but they quickly returned.  They returned to the top flight in 2022–23, three seasons later.

The UK-based City Football Group (CFG), which joined Girona after they won their first-ever promotion to La Liga with a second-place finish in the second tier in 2016–17, deserves most, if not all, of the credit for this turnaround.

The Abu Dhabi United Group owns the majority of CFG, which also owns the current Premier League champions Manchester City and significant stakes in numerous other football teams across the globe, including Mumbai City FC of the Indian Super League, which won the league just one season after CFG and Mumbai City FC joined forces. During their 2018 tour of India, Girona played the Kerala Blasters in Kochi, and, naturally, they defeated them handily.

Because of the way CFG is set up, every team that falls under its purview is somehow linked to one another and needs the other clubs’ success to thrive. Girona is no exception, having benefited greatly from CFG’s backing.

For instance, the young Brazilian striker Savio, who scored yesterday in a 2-1 victory over Rayo and now has four goals and four assists in the league, is on loan from Troyes, a CFG-driven French team.

Girona has only suffered one loss thus far this season, and that was against Real Madrid. The scoreline of 0-3 at Estadi Montilivi, the smallest stadium in Spain with fewer than 15,000 seats, indicates how severely they fell at home.

Moreover, they haven’t yet faced two other formidable teams, the reigning champions Barcelona and Atletico Madrid. This implies that their campaign will be defined by these five games in particular. The amount of progress they make will depend on how many of the 15 points they can salvage.