Following a historic 2023-24 La Liga campaign at the end of which they qualified for the Champions League for the first time ever, Girona understandably expected to back it up with another season at least close to that level in 2024-25. However, two matchdays in, the Catalan club have been served a harsh reality check.
The second matchday of the fledgling La Liga saw Atlético Madrid host Girona. Last season, Girona defied the odds to finish third in the league, five points ahead of Atlético. Prior to 2023-24, Girona had never finished higher than 10th at season’s end in Spain’s top flight but went on to stun the football world with a season virtually nobody saw coming. However, if this most recent match is anything to go by, Girona have serious work to do if they’re to avoid being a one-season wonder.
This should have been Girona’s opportunity to prove that they deserve to be regarded as perennial contenders for Champions League qualification. Instead, Girona never even looked close to Atlético and crashed to a 3-0 loss. Shortly before half-time, Atlético legend Antoine Griezmann put the Madrid club a goal ahead with a free kick sent into the bottom corner after Girona goalkeeper Paulo Gazzaniga committed a handball outside the penalty area.
Atlético doubled their lead soon after the interval via a spectacular goal scored by Marcos Llorente. The wing-back received the ball in his own half, after which he took advantage of the open space in front of him, running with the ball to just outside the penalty area where he unleashed a powerful shot that left Gazzaniga with absolutely no chance at all. In stoppage time, club captain Koke scored Atlético’s third goal - a tap-in after being set up by Llorente.
Last season was truly unprecedented for Girona in many ways. In addition to clinching their first-ever qualification for continental play at all, let alone the Champions League, Girona also had a player win the Pichichi award as the league’s top scorer for the very first time. Ukrainian Artem Dovbyk scored 24 goals to lead the league, edging Villareal’s Norwegian striker Alexander Sørloth by just one goal. Despite losing Dovbyk to Roma and midfielder Aleix García to Bayer Leverkusen while watching winger Savinho’s loan deal expire, Girona had a busy off-season, signing seven players and bringing three more on board via loan deals to cushion the blow.
Girona began the season with a draw against Real Betis - a result that did raise some eyebrows. This was now a match in which Girona would’ve been expected to pick up the win. Instead, despite having almost two-thirds of the possession, Girona were only able to muster two shots on target. Although at the time the result was regarded as being no more than “just the first match”, this most recent clash against Atlético has clearly revealed that there now ought to be cause for concern.
Girona were outplayed in almost every facet of the game. Despite once again having the bulk of the possession, they were completely unable to turn their time with the ball into high-quality goalscoring chances. To add to that, Girona’s many new acquisitions haven’t yet gelled. Their play in both league matches so far has seemed rather disjointed and largely devoid of cohesion - something that has to be addressed if they’re to make another push for a Champions League spot.
Girona’s struggles in front of goal are especially notable - it’s evident that they’re sharply feeling the effect of Dovbyk’s and Savinho’s departures. As of right now, they look nothing like the team that scored 85 league goals last season - a figure second in the league, only behind Real Madrid by two. Though it’s only been two matches in, Abel Ruiz hasn’t quite seemed to be able to keep up; admittedly, however, part of this could be fatigue linked to his participation in Spain’s gold medal-winning Olympic team. That being said, there’s no getting past it - he as well as Portu and Bryan Gil have been misfiring thus far.
Throughout football history, there have been many teams which put it all together for one remarkable season only to flame out in the immediate season after. If Girona are to ensure that such a fate won’t befall them, it’s obvious that they’ll have to make adjustments from this point forth - what they’ve shown so far simply won’t cut it.
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