Girona FC

Girona FC, based at the Estadi Montilivi in Girona, Catalonia, finished second in La Liga in 2023-24 with 81 points, their highest-ever league position, qualifying for the Champions League for the first time.

The 2023-24 season was not just a surprise finish; it was the most disruptive campaign in La Liga in a decade. Girona, a city of 103,000 people 90 kilometres north of Barcelona on the way to France, had spent most of their history in Spain’s lower divisions. Manager Michel and a squad built on Manchester City’s data infrastructure turned a club with a wage bill dwarfed by their rivals into Champions League regulars. Artem Dovbyk finished as La Liga’s top scorer with 24 goals. Savinho, on loan from City’s network, was the most exciting attacking player in Spain across the second half of the season.

The connection to the City Football Group, which owns a minority stake in Girona, gave the club access to data analytics, scouting networks, and player loans that clubs with similar budgets simply cannot replicate. Critics raised questions about competitive integrity; the football itself was beyond argument.

Dovbyk departed for Roma in the summer of 2024, and Savinho was recalled to Man City and sold to Barcelona. Retaining Champions League quality while rebuilding after the sale of your two best players is the problem that 2025-26 presents. Girona’s place at the top table has not been permanently secured, but nobody who watched them in 2023-24 doubts that they belong there in principle.

When does Girona play? La Liga kickoffs at Montilivi are typically 16:15 or 21:00 CET (UTC+1). Girona is in the GMT+1 timezone, 90 minutes by train from Barcelona. A 21:00 CET Saturday kickoff reaches supporters in London at 20:00 GMT, in New York at 15:00 ET, and in Tokyo at 05:00 JST the following morning. Check Girona time for exact conversions. See the full La Liga schedule.