The match between Espanyol and Girona, taking place this Monday at the RCDE Stadium, is about much more than just three points. It’s a battle for a symbolic title, yet one loaded with pride: being considered the second team in Catalonia after the omnipresent, all-consuming, and overwhelming FC Barcelona. This rivalry is relatively recent, unthinkable just a few years ago, but deeply rooted, pitting history against the present, tradition against modernity, and, above all, two very different ways of understanding football.
The Rivalry That Changed Everything
This dispute has a clear birthdate: 2017. That’s when figures linked to Girona, such as Jaume Roures, Ferran Soriano, and Pere Guardiola, declared their intention to position the Girona club as the second team in Catalonia. This comment landed like a bomb at Espanyol, not only because Girona had just arrived in the First Division, but because, for the ‘Blanquiazules’, history and prestige are not given away, as those words seemed to imply; they are earned through decades of work and sacrifice.
Espanyol, with almost 90 seasons in the top flight, doesn’t need to justify its place as the second most important team in its region. However, Girona’s recent sporting achievements, despite only being in their fifth season in the First Division, have made this fight about more than just history or statistics.
Espanyol: History and Legacy vs. The Girona “Boom”
While Girona achieved a historic qualification for the Champions League last season, although they were eliminated without much fanfare from the top continental competition, they are now fighting for a European spot that seems complicated. In fact, Míchel, very honestly, acknowledged after the draw against Celta last matchday that they are currently not in a position to fight for it and must focus on securing their place in the division, although this discourse can be understood as a way to motivate a dressing room that is not in its best moment emotionally.
Espanyol, for its part, remains focused on the goal of staying in the category, but with the backing of its past, its history, and its tradition. Although recent years have been very complicated due to management that can be described as regrettable by the ownership and the men of Chen Yansheng in Barcelona, the ‘Blanquiazul’ club remains, above its directors, a pillar of Catalan football.
Pericos fans also don’t forget that Espanyol has historically been a very generous club with Girona, the most generous, in fact, in the face of indifference from other entities with whom they now seem to maintain an idyll. Before Girona reached the elite and forgot who supported them in the past to throw themselves into the arms of Barça, the ‘Blanquiazul’ club loaned them a long list of players and helped strengthen a project that, curiously, is now trying to snatch that honorary position as “second” in Catalonia.
Opposing Models in Conflict
If we focus on the issue of management, here we must recognize that the advantage is for the Girona club, and by a landslide. Chen Yansheng bought the Perica entity in 2016 with ambitious promises, but the team has suffered two relegations in a very short period of time, a victim of alarming sporting instability, with constant changes of coaches and sporting directors. In contrast, Girona opted for a model based on continuity and effective management, with Quique Cárcel and Míchel as pillars of a stable project that has worked for them.
Espanyol is also experiencing a delicate economic situation, chaining its fourth consecutive season with losses and without investing in signings. In the last summer market, eight players arrived, seven on loan and one free. Meanwhile, Girona managed to sell for 56.5 million and reinvested 43.9 million in reinforcements.
Monday’s Match: A New Battle
Matches between Espanyol and Girona, since this rivalry was born, are full of tension. At the RCDE Stadium, the ‘Pericos’ will seek to reaffirm their role in Catalan football. Meanwhile, Girona, who are enjoying their moment of glory, dream of snatching that place on the podium with hard work, ambition, and also, it must be highlighted, a not at all negligible addition of media sympathy and economic support from a giant like the City Group that plays in their favor. All this means that this Monday, more than just a game is at stake: it will be a new battle for that position in the hierarchy of Catalan football, although the ‘Pericos’ know that, whatever happens, history will always be on their side.