The weekend’s La Liga action saw Girona held to a goalless draw at home to sixth placed Real Sociedad. Despite not finding all three points and reclaiming their spot at the top of the table, the north Catalan outfit found their third clean sheet in four league games, with an impressive backline featuring the likes of on-loan Manchester City full back Yan Couto as well as Eric Garcia, who is another loanee from Barcelona. Daley Blind who has been an ever present at the back this season has been instrumental in providing defensive solidity for the title chasers.
Speaking after signing for the club in July, Blind was excited about the project: “Of course you have to have ambition every time when you are playing on the pitch, and of course you want to reach as high as possible so that is what we will try to do this year as well”. Despite being optimistic after signing for his new team, it’s fair to say the former Manchester United defender couldn’t have envisioned their current league position as we progress to the later stages of the season.
The 33-year-old has collected a long list of honours during his career with seven Eredivisie league titles with his boyhood club Ajax, a Bundesliga title with Bayern Munich last season, as well as a Europa League title, an FA Cup and EFL Cup win during his four-year spell with Manchester United between 2014-2018. Despite all of this, a La Liga title with league minnows Girona could arguably be the most memorable.
With comparisons to Leicester City’s epic league win in the 2015-16 season, Girona only won promotion back to the top division following the 2021-22 season, with a 10th place finish last season. To add to this, this will only be the team’s fifth season competing in La Liga with the underdogs looking to do the unthinkable as they head into a clash with La Liga giants and now title rivals Real Madrid on Saturday night. With Daley Blind suspended after picking up a fifth yellow card, will Girona rise to the challenge of Los Blancos without their star centre-back?
Watch Real Madrid vs Girona this Saturday 10th February, with coverage starting from 5.00pm GMT on Viaplay Sports 2 and ITV4.
