Barça face Girona FC on Monday in La Liga, the game kicking off at Spotify Camp Nou at 9pm CEST. The fixture will give Xavi Hernández's team a chance to put behind them the disappointing exit from the Copa del Rey last Wednesday against Real Madrid with the objective of moving one step closer to the league title. The blaugranes have a 12 point gap over their nearest rivals in La Liga and that advantage could be more come the end of Monday's game.
Girona, best known to the outside world for being the home of many a professional cyclist and being one of the filming locations of Game of Thrones, spent most of their footballing existence in the second and third tiers of the Spanish system until earning promotion to the second division in 2008 and then reaching the dizzy heights of La Liga for the first time in 2017.
They only managed to stay in the top flight for two seasons, but after three years in the second division they finally won promotion back up again last season.
Head to head
The blaugranes host Girona after winning 1-0 at the Estadi Motilivi back in January courtesy of a goal from Pedri. Of the four meetings between the teams the last time Girona were in the first division, three were quite comfortable wins for Barça, but in the other Girona managed a 2-2 draw at Spotify Camp Nou.
Story of two defences
Barça's success in the league this season has been largely based on their defensive excellence, having kept 20 clean sheets in 27 games in La Liga. Girona, in contrast, have kept a clean sheet just once this season in a 1-0 win over Valencia at home. Nevertheless, the Catalan club have been impressive going forward scoring 42 goals in 27 matches so far with only the top three of Atlético Madrid, Real Madrid and Barça finding the net on more occasions in the league in 2022/23.
The boss
Miguel Ángel Sánchez Muñoz, known as Míchel, spent most of his playing days at Rayo Vallecano, and that is also the club where he started out as a manager.
After a couple of years at Huesca, he took the Girona job in 2021 and guided them to promotion in his first season. Míchel has faced Barça on four occasions as a coach and has lost on each, twice with Rayo, this season with Girona at home and in his one game against the blaugranes as Huesca coach.
Familiar faces
There are four players in the Girona quad who have a past at FC Barcelona. Uruguayan defender Santi Bueno played for the youth team in 2017 and also played some games for the B-team.
Both Arnau Martínez and Valery Fernández were at La Masia before joining l’Hospitalet and Girona respectively.
Finally, Oriol Romeu is probably the player most fans will remember. The midfielder was at the club from 2004 to 2011, and rose to Barça B but after two years he departed for Chelsea. He is best known, of course, for his over 200 appearances for Southampton.