I don't really look at Spanish football but just read an article about Bellingham helping Real Madrid to regain top spot...from Girona.

I visited Girona earlier this year but hadn't even checked it had a football team. I'd no idea it was even at the top of Spanish football. The city is definitely worth a visit...but you'll have done it in a couple of days at most. It's very easy to get to (and cheap) by high speed train from Barcelona too, if you're visiting there.

I should have realised there'd be something dodgy going on
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2017/aug/29/girona-manchester-city-pep-guardiola-brother-questions

Girona 19th in average league attendance across all Spanish leagues >> https://www.footballwebpages.co.uk/spanish-la-liga/attendances

I didn't realise Girona has the same owners as Manchester City, I would have thought a club like Valencia would have been a more appetising club to invest in with their partially built new 75,000 seater stadium that hasn't been completed due to financial constraints. Still kinda feels fairy tale stuff if they can stay in the top three come the end of the season.

A cynic might say that Girona will slack off a little bit so that they don't come across Man City in the Champions League.

Quoted from jamesgtfc

A cynic might say that Girona will slack off a little bit so that they don't come across Man City in the Champions League.

They said something similar about Leicester City here a few years back.

Quoted from Les Brechin

They said something similar about Leicester City here a few years back.

Leicester weren't owned by another side in the Champions League though.

The point, I think, is that as Girona and City are effectively under the same ownership they won't be able to both compete in the Champions League due to ownership rules.

Leipzig and Salzburg do though (I think)?

Yep, think there was an investigation few years back but not enough evidence found... ;D

With City having dodged a few UEFA bullets already, I can't imagine they'll get so lucky as to not find a bit of extra scrutiny on this matter.

It's going to be interesting watching how financial fair play works out.

I wouldn't be surprised if we'll see players bought for £60m, then later sold 6 months or a year later for £15m to a club with the same owners... If you cannot fudge the revenue, through sponsorship, fudge the costs through player acquisition.

Quoted from diehardmariner

Leicester weren't owned by another side in the Champions League though.

The point, I think, is that as Girona and City are effectively under the same ownership they won't be able to both compete in the Champions League due to ownership rules.

Man City don’t have a majority share in Girona, they are part of an umbrella organisation, the City Football Group, along with Troyes, Palermo and Lommel of the French, Italian and Belgian leagues. As long as they can prove autonomy they can compete against each other just as Red Bull teams have in the Europa Cup.

Can’t claim to normally have such knowledge on this subject but happened to read an article on this subject earlier this morning.

Would be great but very unlikely if Girona could win the league, as for the past 20 years it’s been RM, AM and Barcelona, however, they do have a good chance of qualifying for the Champions League

Quoted from Southwark Mariner

I don't really look at Spanish football but just read an article about Bellingham helping Real Madrid to regain top spot..

Was out in Madrid in September / early October ( non football) and Bellingham is getting high praise. His stats were as good as Christiano Ronaldos when he first joined Real Madrid and was on the front page of their daily paper a few times "Marca" when I was there .

Quoted from Rick12

Was out in Madrid in September / early October ( non football) and Bellingham is getting high praise. His stats were as good as Christiano Ronaldos when he first joined Real Madrid and was on the front page of their daily paper a few times "Marca" when I was there .

He brokes CR7's record for goals scored in first 15 games as a Madrid player. Cristiano scored 13 and Bellingham has 14

Quoted from LocalLadGTFC

He brokes CR7's record for goals scored in first 15 games as a Madrid player. Cristiano scored 13 and Bellingham has 14

Thanks for the update. Kind of moving when I saw him in TV clips  there  scoring some late goals and the fans  singing his name in the Santiago Bernabeau. Seems to have a good head on his shoulders and arguably their main player maybe even above Vincius Jr now ?.

Quoted from MrThirsty

Man City don’t have a majority share in Girona, they are part of an umbrella organisation, the City Football Group, along with Troyes, Palermo and Lommel of the French, Italian and Belgian leagues. As long as they can prove autonomy they can compete against each other just as Red Bull teams have in the Europa Cup.

Can’t claim to normally have such knowledge on this subject but happened to read an article on this subject earlier this morning.

Would be great but very unlikely if Girona could win the league, as for the past 20 years it’s been RM, AM and Barcelona, however, they do have a good chance of qualifying for the Champions League

Oh no doubt about it, the City Football Group will feel they've got everything in place to circumnavigate this.  However, I just think with UEFA already having their nose put out of joint by City previously, they'll be gunning again for them and this will just help fuel that.  Personally couldn't care less in this battle.  Two corrupt organisations trying to out-weasel each other.  Ultimately it'll all come down to who has the best legal team.

I see they're now top of La Liga after beating Barcelona!

Going off on a tangent we flew to Barcelona a few years back during a storm and ended up being diverted to Girona, the plane made four attempts on landing with three being aborted just before touching down. The cabin looked like a bomb had gone off and that's the only time in my life i have ever prayed  ;D

Quoted from Simon

Going off on a tangent we flew to Barcelona a few years back during a storm and ended up being diverted to Girona, the plane made four attempts on landing with three being aborted just before touching down. The cabin looked like a bomb had gone off and that's the only time in my life i have ever prayed  ;D

Nice to know Jesus looked after you.

"Jesus at the controls"

Interesting article about Girona:

https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2023/dec/11/girona-shocking-assault-on-power-at-barcelona-la-liga-best

They aren't spending big bucks, apparently, it's just a bit of a Leicester City situation where a disparate bunch of players have somehow really gelled to make a fantastic team. Would be interesting to see how they play, but I don't have Spanish football available to me on my TV channels.