Girona, Spain – Decorated with flags, signed shirts and Girona banners, the Graner bar houses the Penya Gironina, the club's largest supporters club.
Wearing the team's red and white jerseys, a mix of gray heads, middle-aged women and boys and girls gathered here to watch their team play away against Celta Vigo in La Liga.
Everyone enjoying their improbable rise to the top of Spanish football.
El Graner is located in a drab suburb of this northeastern city, whose center features beautiful medieval architecture that attracted 8.5 million tourists last year.
In the same suburb is Estadio Montilivi, the club's pocket stadium that can only hold 14,000 fans, about one-sixth the size of Barcelona's neighboring Camp Nou home.
With their Catalan counterparts adrift in third place, Girona, with only one Costa Brava Cup to boast as a trophy, is defying all odds to compete with Real Madrid (35-time champion of Spain and 14-time winner of the Liga of Champions) for the La Liga title. .
Tickets, although the club languished for years in the lower leagues, were once difficult to give away. Now, all the games are sold out.
“The first thing I have to tell you is: always watch Girona,” Spanish soccer expert Graham Hunter told Al Jazeera.
“They are a real roller coaster: always attacking, apparently with very little commitment in defense, with an exciting and cloak-and-dagger style in equal parts.
“In short: they are fun. “Really very funny.”
'There are days you have to pinch yourself'
The Girona club's mascot is a fly, in reverence to the legend that flies biting from the tomb of Saint Narcissus helped the city defeat Napoleon's besieging army in 1809.
The city, with a population of only 100,000, will now become a plague not only for the giants of Spanish football but also for Europe, through the very likely qualification for the Champions League.
Girona, near the French border, was previously known for a railway bridge designed by Gustave Eiffel in the 1870s before he turned his attention to a much better-known tower in Paris.
Now, it is known for attracting ski enthusiasts to the slopes of the Pyrenees in the winter months or captivating tourists during its Temps de Flors (flower season) festival in May, when the houses, alleys and streets are decorated with flowers, and by its famous Costa Brava beaches in the summer months.
In economic terms, the city's main export product is chemicals. On a sporting level, his basketball team has been his greatest success so far.
Lluís Bosch, president of the Peña Gironina, admits that it is difficult for him to believe what is happening this season.
“There are days when you have to pinch yourself to believe it. It seems unreal,” he told Al Jazeera while watching Girona beat Celta Vigo 1-0.
The transformation
A quarter of a century ago, Girona played in Spain's fifth division, a regional league. Just 16 years ago they were in the fourth division.
Fortunes changed in 2017, when City Football Group (CFG) acquired a 44 percent stake in Girona FC.
Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, a member of the Abu Dhabi royal family and vice president of the United Arab Emirates, owns an 81 percent stake in CFG, which owns clubs from Manchester City to New York City's Yokohama Marinos and Melbourne City.
This can be a major problem. If Girona qualifies for the Champions League, CFG will likely have to sell part of its stake because, under UEFA rules, two clubs controlled by the same entity cannot compete in the same competition.
However, Girona's success is not simply due to the arrival of large amounts of money.
The rest of the ownership is made up of Bolivian businessman Marcelo Claure, who owns 35 percent, while Catalan Pere Guardiola, younger brother of Manchester City coach Pep, owns a 16 percent stake.
Guardiola clearly shares his older brother's vision when it comes to football, although the 47-year-old follows the business side of the game. His acumen is credited with playing a key role in signing Ukrainian international Viktor Tsygankov, his best player.
Coach Miguel Ángel Sánchez Muñoz, known as Michel, was a hero at Rayo Vallecano, a humble team from a difficult area of Madrid. The 48-year-old moved to Girona, learned Catalan and now coaches the team in a language that is an integral part of the culture.
Indeed, at this level, CFG's influence can be seen in the club's data-driven strategy. In 2021, Girona was bottom of the Second Division but the CFG sent a direct message to Míchel telling him that, according to his information, he was doing the right thing.
“All their data told them that the football we were playing was good enough for promotion and that, under no circumstances, should they give in or change anything,” Michel said.
Another factor is the smart signings of street players from other leagues.
Aleix García, a 26-year-old Spanish midfielder, was never international for Spain and never succeeded at Manchester City. Nineteen-year-old Savio Moreira de Oliveira, who has yet to be capped by Brazil, played in the Dutch second division with Jong PSV last season. Goalkeeper Paulo Gazzaniga, 32, has only played one friendly match for Argentina.
Enrique “Quique” Cárcel, sports director, has been at the club for 10 seasons. He has overseen five promotion playoffs, two promotions and the only four seasons Girona has spent in Spain's top division.
Hunter credits Carcel for these signings: “He finds a lot of players that other clubs didn't think much about and mixes them into a stew of a club that works well together.”
What is a club without its fans?
Wearing a traditional red Catalan barretina and a floppy hat that resembles a Christmas cap, subscriber Joan Prado smiled as he talked about his team.
“This year we have done something really special,” he told Al Jazeera.
Prado travels 60 kilometers (37 miles) from his home on the French border to watch Girona play at home. The 66-year-old businessman also tours Spain to watch the team play.
“Now we are known throughout Spain, but the ideal would be for us to win the League or the Super Cup.”
Joan Vicens, a 63-year-old businessman, is happy that Girona's recent success has increased interest in the city and tourism, but he remains nostalgic for the loyal fans who are not there to celebrate something to which they were so committed. .
What we are living is a dream. But I think of all the people who were in La Penya. [fan club] of the years in which Girona was nothing and that are no longer among us. It makes me feel a little sad,” Vicens said.
Jordi Fortia first went to see Girona with his father Josep when he was a child. Now, the 42-year-old businessman takes his six-year-old son Jan to watch the games.
Fortia makes special cookies for the club that are offered to the first team and visiting players. It is a typical family feeling for the club.
Meanwhile, the team's jersey is sponsored by a local pet food company, Gosbi, and not by international airlines or other multinationals.
Fortia says he loves the way Girona plays (and wins), but also shares a tinge of sadness that his father, who recently died of cancer, is not here to enjoy it.
“If only my father could have seen them now. He wouldn’t believe how things are,” Fortia said. “If my dad was here today, it would be amazing.”
Back in Graner, as Girona sealed victory against Celta Vigo, Bosch spoke with barely contained enthusiasm about the prospect of playing in the Champions League.
“That will mean we can travel to some of Europe's historic stadiums like Anfield, home of Liverpool,” he said.
“I still can't believe I'm saying this.”
If Girona lifts the League when the next Temps de Flors arrives in May, all of Spain will not believe what they are seeing.
