Can Girona Maintain Excellent Start to the Season in La Liga?

17.10.23 1261

At the end of the regular 2021/22 season, Girona found themselves in 6th place in the Segunda Division. They failed to win automatic promotion back to the topflight and were 13 points off the top two teams.

However, having beat 3rd place Eibar over two legs, Girona defeated Tenerife 3-1 away in the playoff final to return to La Liga. Fast forward to the second international break of the 2023/24 La Liga season and Girona find themselves in 2nd place in the table, just 1 point off the leaders, Real Madrid.

Girona have won 7 of their 9 La Liga fixtures this season, tasting just a single defeat.

The loss came at home against Real Madrid and while Girona would have been hoping to take something from Los Blancos in-front of their own fans, that loss does not detract from what has been a tremendous start to the campaign.

This is only the third time Girona have played in La Liga in their history and they are hoping to make it a memorable season.

Last season, Girona finished 10th in La Liga and they overachieved. Most people were expecting Girona to fight for survival at the bottom of the table but they finished 9 points clear of the relegation zone. However, Girona were still 39 points off the top of the table and little was expected of them this season.

The transfer market in the summer was not kind to Girona and they lost some key players, including midfield, Oriol Romeu, to Barcelona. Centre-back, Santi Bueno, winger, Rodrigo Riquelme, and top scorer, Taty Castellanos, all left Girona in the summer, with all those players having played over 30 league matches each last season.

So, to be second in the table looks like a miracle but is it something Girona can continue for the remainder of the season and clinch European football?

If we look at the victories of Girona, they have beat Sevilla, Granada, Mallorca, Villarreal, Las Palmas, Getafe, and Cadiz. who are all 10th or lower in the table.

The only game they have played against a team in top six ended in a 3-0 home defeat. So, it will be interesting to see how Girona cope when they start playing some of the teams around them in the league.

The goals have been spread across the team, which is a good sign and means injuries should not cost them a key player in terms of scoring. Girona have scored 19 goals in La Liga ahead of the match against Almeria and 11 different players have found the back of the net.

Last season, Girona were close to qualifying for Europe and they have already amassed close to 45% of their total points last season in the current campaign.

There is a 9-point gap between Girona and 7th place but still 29 games to go in the La Liga season.

Girona have made a tremendous start and if they can keep picking up points until the new year, there is a strong possibility they can qualify for Europe for the first time in their history.