Girona starts new year with another chance to show it's a genuine title contender in Spain

MADRID — The new year brings Girona another chance to show it’s a genuine title contender in the Spanish league.

Girona’s first match of 2024 is a tough challenge against third-place Atletico Madrid at home on Wednesday.

The Catalan club has been the surprise team in Spain so far this season, with statement wins such as the one it earned at defending champion Barcelona last month.

Now it has a shot at taking down an Atletico team that finished the year with a win against Sevilla.

Girona, partly owned by Manchester City’s Abu Dhabi ownership, is tied with Real Madrid on 45 points, but trails the Spanish powerhouse on a tiebreaker.

“We finished the first half of the season on the same level as the top clubs,” Girona coach Míchel Sánchez said. “Our fans are proud of what we have achieved so far.”

The game against Atletico should help give an idea about whether Girona has what it takes to keep competing at the top.

Girona lost 3-0 to Madrid at home in September in its first big challenge of the season, but it recovered and showed its strength in a convincing 4-2 win at Barcelona in December.

Girona went on a 12-match unbeaten streak in all competitions since the loss to Madrid, with draws against fifth-place Athletic Bilbao in November and at Real Betis in its last match of the year, when it was winning until conceding an 88th-minute equalizer.

The team coached by Míchel has 14 wins in 18 matches, and has the league’s best attack with 42 goals, three more than Madrid’s high-profile offense.

GRIEZMANN'S RECORD

Atletico Madrid forward Antoine Griezmann enters the game against Girona tied with Luis Aragonés as the club’s all-time top scorer with 173 goals.

The France international has his second chance to break the record after going scoreless in the team's win against Sevilla on Dec. 23.

Atletico won only two of its five league matches in December in a run that included a loss at Barcelona and a 3-3 draw against Getafe that ended the club’s record-tying 20-game home winning streak in all competitions.

Diego Simeone's team trails leaders Madrid and Girona by seven points.

VINICIUS’ LIKELY RETURN

Real Madrid could enjoy the return of Vinícius Júnior when it hosts Mallorca on Wednesday.

Vinícius hasn’t played since November, when he injured a leg muscle while playing a World Cup qualifier with Brazil’s national team.

“I'm fine, doing very well,” Vinícius said. “Now it's up to the coach to decide whether I'll play.”

Also possibly returning from injury for coach Carlo Ancelotti — who last week renewed his contract with the club until 2026 — are defender Dani Carvajal and midfielders Eduardo Camavinga and Arda Güler.

Madrid starts the year still without several key players because of knee ligament injuries, including goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois and defenders David Alaba and Éder Militão.

Madrid is unbeaten in 17 games across all competitions, since a 3-1 league loss at Atletico in September. It has three draws since then.

BARCELONA’S STRUGGLES

Fourth-place Barcelona goes into its match at midtable Las Palmas on Thursday needing a win to overcome a tough run to end the year.

The Catalan club won only two of its six matches, including a loss to Mexican club America in a friendly in the United States in its final game of the year.

It also lost to Girona in the Spanish league and to Antwerp in the Champions League. Its last win was a hard-fought one against last-place Almeria at home in the league, when the team coached by Xavi Hernández was jeered after yet another poor performance.

In other matches, Bilbao visits struggling Sevilla on Thursday, while relegation-threatened Celta Vigo hosts seventh-place Real Betis on Wednesday.

On Tuesday, sixth-place Real Sociedad hosts Alaves, and Villarreal visits midtable Valencia.