Girona, why?

This season, Girona started extremely badly.

After the 11th round of La Liga, Girona is at the bottom of the table with only 7 points after 1 win, 4 draws and 6 losses. Girona started to fall into a terrible decline since last season, after unexpectedly winning a ticket to the Champions League. Now their biggest goal is just to win a ticket to stay in the league. That harsh reality makes many people ask, why is Girona declining so much?

No longer a phenomenon

Last season, the iconic Champions League tune echoed around Montilivi as Girona made their debut in Europe’s premier club competition. Girona’s 14,624-seat stadium was the smallest capacity in the 2024/25 Champions League, underlining their meteoric rise. Girona only played in La Liga for the first time in their 87-year history in 2017.

When Girona topped La Liga in 2023/24, many saw them as the Leicester City of Spain. They eventually finished 3rd in La Liga 2023/24 behind Real Madrid and Barcelona, but overtook Atlético Madrid to qualify for the Champions League.

Since then, many people expected Girona to be able to assert its position through regular participation in European cups, especially when City Football Group is the largest shareholder in the club with 47% of shares. However, the reality is completely different.

Girona were nearly relegated last season and are currently bottom of La Liga after 11 games. The reality is harsh after Girona’s performances two years ago were so far above expectations. Girona is a small city in Catalonia with a population of less than 100,000 and is becoming a victim of its own success.

El Pais believes that Girona are a mid-table club in La Liga, given their squad value, city size and revenues. Perhaps the problem is not that Girona's form has declined, but simply that they were in an unusual form two years ago.

Coach Michel could not save Girona.

Girona finished the 2023/24 La Liga season in 3rd place, having never finished higher than 10th before. It should also be noted that this was only Girona's sixth season in La Liga in its entire history.

As opponents began to take more caution, Girona won just three of their last 27 La Liga games. Last season’s Champions League qualification meant they couldn’t borrow players from Manchester City. And that’s where the tragedy began.

Victims of success

Girona's links to Manchester City are clear, through Pep's brother Pere Guardiola, who has been Girona's president for many years. Although City Football Group and the Manchester City owners have invested in Girona, the La Liga club's rise has not been driven by heavy investment.

They have been successful through smart and sensible transfer dealings. If they cannot buy players cheaply, they are loaned out or sold at "gift-free" prices by Manchester City or clubs from the City Football Group around the world .

Thanks to that, Artem Dovbyk, Aleix Garcia, Miguel Gutierrez, Yangel Herrera, Eric García and Savinho came into the light, increasing their value significantly. Girona's problem is that they cannot replace key players after selling players.

Substitutes like Bojan Miovski, Yaser Asprilla, Abel Ruiz, Donny van de Beek and Arnaut Danjuma have not been successful. Other pillars still in the team are getting older, such as Paolo Gazzaniga, David Lopez, Stuani or Daley Blind.

Since the start of the 2024/25 season, Girona have been LaLiga’s sixth-highest spender (€73.4m) but have made significantly more from player sales (€115.8m). Girona’s €42.4m profit over that period is the fourth-highest in LaLiga and they have not invested heavily in the transfer market to secure their position.

City Football Group spent a fortune to turn Manchester City into a top European club but they have adopted a more pragmatic approach at Girona. It is clear that winning trophies or regularly qualifying for European competition is not the UAE owners' primary goal with Girona.

Therefore, the Catalan team now has to be satisfied with the "underdog" position in La Liga.

Source: https://znews.vn/girona-vi-dau-nen-noi-post1599692.html