Here we go again: Saturday night at the Santiago Bernabéu, the title decider. Eighty-five thousand tickets long gone, history there to be made. First versus second, 100 goals between them, the rest way behind. The club that are unbeaten at home, with more points than anyone in Europe, hosting the club that have not lost away, the league leadership awaiting the winners. Top scorers face to face, battling for the Pichichi. That symbol of Spain against the side supported by the Catalan president in exile. A banner the size of a building suddenly appearing in the capital: we’re coming for you. It’s all set up to be a classic, but it’s not a clásico.
This isn’t Real Madrid against Barcelona; it’s Real Madrid against Girona. Somehow, Girona made it this far; win on Saturday and Míchel Sánchez’s side may believe they really could make it all the way. They beat Barcelona and they beat Atlético Madrid; beat Madrid and it’s real. The club that have never won anything, never even reached Europe, that only got to the first division in 2017, went back down again, and are playing only their fourth top-flight season, whose budget is a 14th the size of Madrid’s, could actually win the league.
