This SBOTOP writer has already penned a few plaudits for Girona this season, but it now seems an opportune moment to do so again.
For 12 games into the 2023–24 La Liga campaign, that’s almost a third; they are at the top of the table, and it’s far from an accident.
Do I think the unthinkable will happen, which would see them not just overcome the La Liga 2023 betting odds but pretty much every fan and pundit the world over?
Of course not.
But as long as they are creating La Liga 2023 highlights, then they deserve every bit of praise. In fact, the club from North Catalonia, with a ground that holds only 14,624, is doing far more than holding its own, as it has recorded 10 victories and a draw in its opening 12 contests.
The side, which hails from a city of 97,586 people, is overshadowed by Barcelona 99 kilometres down the road, and a club that sold a number of its best players this summer, including Oriol Romeu (to Barcelona), top scorer Taty Castellanos, their best winger Rodrigo Riquelme, and centre-back, Santi Bueno, is ahead of both Barca and Real Madrid.
So far, their players have proven very much the ‘real deal’ and four straight wins have seen them return to the summit with a league-leading 29 goals and 31 league points. If Girona are the story of the season so far, there is no denying the player of the year in La Liga to date.
The boy wonder Bellingham has magic in his boots, with 20-year-old midfielder Jude making an instant impression at the Bernabeu. His double to settle the first El Clasico of the season was a script written in the stars for Madristas.
Thirteen goals and three assists in 14 games in all competitions since joining from Borussia Dortmund is a superb return and, while his team may have drawn a blank at home to Real Valladolid on Sunday evening, I get the impression any side that finishes above them this term will be top of the pile.
Bellingham dislocated a shoulder in that encounter and, while it has the potential to keep him out for a game or two, it shouldn’t be too long which will come as a relief for Madrid given how reliant they’ve been on his talent.
There is one other team I’d like to hand plaudits too and that is 10th placed Las Palmas.
Back in La Liga after a five-year absence, they have an unsung hero in goalkeeper Alvaro Valles.
Through his first 12 top-flight outings, the only game Valles has conceded more than one goal in was against Real at the Bernabeu. He was beaten twice that day but saved each of his first seven shots on target faced in the game.
Overall, the 26-year-old shot-stopper has played more games in La Liga than he has conceded goals so far. For a goalkeeper of a promoted team, that’s a record to be proud of. Particularly when you look across to Granada – a team which pipped Las Palmas to the Segunda title last term – and see they’ve shipped 29 goals in as many games, it’s clear they’re onto something good. It would appear heroes come in all shapes and packages in La Liga.
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