Girona took themselves to the La Liga summit thanks to an impressive 4-2 win over Barcelona at Estadi Lluis Companys. City Group-owned Girona moved two points clear of Real Madrid and seven points ahead of Barcelona after the defeat which saw goals from Artem Dovbyk, Miguel Gutierrez, Valery Fernandez, and Cristhian Stuani.
The game began with a frantic opening ten minutes, and it was Girona who took the lead through Artem Dovbyk, who side-footed the ball off the post and into the net after a pass from Viktor Tsygankov. Barcelona quickly responded with an equalizer from Robert Lewandowski off a corner kick. Girona continued to cause problems for Barcelona’s defense, and Miguel Gutierrez finally found the back of the net to put Girona back in front at 2-1.
After the halftime break, Barcelona struggled to create clear chances, and Girona extended their lead to 3-1 through a goal from Valery Fernandez. Barcelona managed to pull one back with a goal from Ilkay Gundogan, but Girona quickly restored their two-goal advantage with Cristhian Stuani making it 4-2.
Barcelona’s lineup included goalkeeper Inaki Pena, who couldn’t do much about the goals, Jules Kounde, Ronald Araujo, Andreas Christensen, Joao Cancelo, Ilkay Gundogan, Frenkie de Jong, Pedri, Raphinha, Robert Lewandowski, and Joao Felix.
Girona’s manager Michael out-thought his counterpart Xavi Hernandez, who was unable to find an answer to Girona’s attacking threat, which saw Girona emerge as deserving winners. Despite the defeat, Ilkay Gundogan managed to get a goal. Joao Felix was unable to replicate his previous week’s performance.
The defeat saw Barcelona drop to fourth place in the La Liga standings, seven points behind Girona. It was a memorable result for Girona, who showed their attacking prowess and will look to build on this performance as they aim to maintain their position at the top of La Liga.
