FC Girona like Leicester once?
The dark secret of Real Madrid’s challenger
November 6th, 2023, 9:16 p.m
The small FC Girona leads the LaLiga table in Spain. Co-owner Pere Guardiola is not the only connection to Manchester City. It is completely unclear whether they will even be allowed to take part in the Champions League.
Of course, they also know the miracle of Leicester at the small FC Girona. “Of course, everyone here remembers it,” said defender Eric Garcia when asked about the parallels after the jump to the top of the table. Because eight years after City’s fairytale championship in England, a similar sensation is in the air in Spain. One with strong connections to England, however, and not just because of co-owner Pere Guardiola.
There can no longer be any question of coincidence in the north-east of Catalonia: the club, which was only promoted in 2022, has 31 points in its account after twelve match days. Real Madrid, FC Barcelona and Atlético Madrid? Everyone loses out. Coach Michel nevertheless weighed things down after the recent 4-2 win against Osasuna: “We don’t play in the same league as Barça, Madrid or Atletico. We are fighting to play a role in the league behind them.”
The table says otherwise. Girona, previously better known for its airport near Barcelona, which is popular with low-cost airlines, is shaking up the league – the 29 goals scored are also a record. Not bad for a club that was still in the fourth division in 2007 and plays in the league’s smallest stadium with 14,624 seats.
The City Football Group is getting involved
But behind the success there are also many years of calculation – and money from Abu Dhabi. Since 2017, 44.3 percent of the club has belonged to the City Football Group, which has numerous clubs in its portfolio, especially Manchester City. A further 44.3 percent is owned by the Girona Football Group with Pere Guardiola at the helm. The players’ agent and chairman of the board is the younger brother of City boss Pep Guardiola.
This leads to interesting cross-connections. Girona midfielder Yangel Herrera, for example, was loaned from City in 2022 and is now permanently signed, and defender Yan Couto also actually belongs to Manchester. In 2017, after promotion to LaLiga for the first time, there were three loan players from City in the squad: Douglas Luiz, Aleix Garcia and Pablo Maffeo.
And so it continues: Taty Castellanos was loaned to Girona from New York City FC in 2022 (and scored three goals in a 4-2 win against Real), the Brazilian Savio belongs to the French second division club Troyes. New York and Troyes are also part of the City Group. This could still lead to difficulties: If both Girona and Manchester City reach the Champions League next season, UEFA will have to take a close look at how much influence City has on Girona.
After all, there is no doubt about the sporting success, in which Daley Blind, who was spurned at Bayern Munich, also played a part. So is a second Leicester actually on the horizon? “There’s still a long way to go,” said defender Garcia, who also once played for City: “At the moment we’re just enjoying ourselves. And then we’ll see what happens next.”