Third placed Barcelona will welcome a surprise package and second placed Girona to the Montjuïc Olympic Stadium on Sunday’s night for mouthwatering and top of table clash.
When the La Liga fixture list was announced in the summer, few would have expected this Matchday 16 clash between Barcelona and Girona to be second against third in the league.
It’s current Spanish champions Barca who sit in third, with four draws and a loss creating a four-point divide between them and current leaders Real Madrid.
Girona have been one of the major surprise packages in European football so far this season, spending some time at the top of the table ahead of Madrid.
Barça come into this game in good form after two big wins over FC Porto and Atlético that guaranteed a spot in the Champions League knockout rounds and gave them three big points over a fellow top 4 rival, and now the Blaugrana would want to definitively enter the title race by beating one of the co-leaders.
And thanks to Real Madrid’s draw away to Real Betis on Saturday, Barça will be only two points off the top if they earn a victory against Girona and end the year as one of the three main title contenders. But getting all three points in this one will not prove easy, and it’ll comfortably be one of the most brutal tests the Catalans will face all season.
Xavi Hernandez side have had plenty of injuries to deal with this season, just like most clubs around Europe juggling congested fixture lists. The latest major blow is to Marc-Andre ter Stegen, with the German goalkeeper ruled out for two to three months after undergoing back surgery.
Gavi is out for the season, while this game will come too soon for Marcos Alonso who is expected to return later in December. Inigo Martinez is also unavailable and won’t be back until the new year.
Whether Girona will be able to maintain this same pace for the rest of the campaign is not certain, but as of now they are undoubtedly a force and a title contending team. Their attack is nearly unstoppable, with a perfect blend of possession football and physical, counter-attacking play that can trouble every opponent.
Girona can morph into whatever they need to be on offense, and their ability to score goals against anyone helps offset their obvious defensive shortcomings created in part by their personnel and in part by their attacking philosophy. Manager Míchel has done a masterful job creating a team full of speed and life, and they are legitimately a lot of fun to watch and are winning while also entertaining.
They want to prove against Barça that they’re for real, and show the world that they’re not just a fun team punching above their weight that will eventually crash back down to earth after they lose to the big teams. But they also want to do it their way, with good, high-quality offensive football and goals.