FC Barcelona's stunning start to the 2025/26 season took a knock in the week prior to the international break, with the first defeat in Europe at the hands of Paris Saint-Germain followed by the loss of the team's unbeaten record on the domestic front as they tumbled to 4-2 defeat at Sevilla.

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The fortnight off will have given Hansi Flick some valuable thinking time as he prepares for the return to Liga action in this Saturday's early 4.15pm CEST kick-off at home to Girona. Barça are back at the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys for this one, where three points would put them back on top of the Liga table, pending the outcome of Real Madrid's trip to city rivals Getafe on Sunday, with the all-important Clásico now just a week away.

The game will be preceded by a show of support from both teams for the people affected by Storm Alice in southern Catalonia.

Girona rising

The season started terribly for the visitors, with just one point from their first five outings, prompting manager Míchel to state that "we are the worst team in the league." But things have finally started improving for the Catalans, who were enjoying the dizzy heights of Champions League football less than a year ago.

Following draws with Athletic Club and Espanyol, they finally achieved their first win of the season, 2-1 at home to Valencia, and now off the bottom of the table, with the next goal being to get out of the relegation zone.

Head to head

Before 2017, Girona had never appeared in La Liga, and it wasn't until 2023 that Barça lost to their fellow Catalans for the first time. And after winning 4-2 at the Estadi Olímpic, Girona then won by the same score at their own Montilivi, thus completing a historic double.

Last season the two games also finished with identical scores, 4-1, but it was Barça who comfortably came out tops on both occasions. That's 22 goals that the last four meetings between these sides have produced, more than five a game... so whatever happens on Saturday, it's sure to be entertaining for the neutrals..

In last year's meeting on Montjuïc, Barça took a first half lead courtesy of an own goal, Girona equalised after the break through Danjuma, but the home side eventually wrapped up the points thanks to a Lewandowski brace and another from Ferran Torres.

Team news

Neither of Barça's goalscorers in that fixture will be featuring this time round. Lewandowski has picked up a muscle injury and will be out for a couple of weeks or so, while Ferran came back from international duty nursing a hamstring problem, and is being rested as a precautionary measure.

Those two absences add to Hansi Flick's worries, with Dani Olmo, Gavi, Joan Garcia, Ter Stegen and Raphinha already on the treatment list.

However, there was also good news this week, with Fermín Lopez and Lamine Yamal, neither of whom were in condition for international duty for Spain this week, both very much on the mend and back in training this week. Both were named in a 23 man squad by Hansi Flick on Saturday. 

But injuries are no excuse this time because if Barça have it bad, Girona arguably have it worse. Juan Carlos, David López and Donny van de Beek are all injured, and there are a number of other fitness doubts in the squad. And to add to Michel's worries, he has both Alejandro Francés and Ivan Martín serving suspensions.

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