Girona are top of La Liga for the first time in history. But this is not chance | Sid Lowe

As the 41st club to conclude a round on top of Spain’s top flight, Girona again showed they are very good at football

“We know this isn’t normal,” said Aleix García and yet, he insisted, nor was it chance. Either way, it was historic. At 8.20pm on 27 September 2023, the other García, Eric, headed in the goal that put their team into the lead against Villarreal, on course for another win, to carry them above Real Madrid, above Barcelona and above everyone else. This isn’t supposed to happen, but it had. On the long bus journey home, heading up the east coast in the dark, even the manager admitted he had scrolled through his phone and taken the screengrab that proved it. Pop to the kiosko on Thursday morning, if he could find one, and there it is to cut out and keep: Girona Futbol Club are top of the league.

The city with the best restaurant in the world now has the best football team in Spain. Maybe even in Europe: across the five biggest leagues, no one has more points than Girona and no one is more excited to be there. “Euphoric,” Eric García said, and why not? The last team to reach primera – the club that only got there in 2017 and was gone again two years later – and the team that returned just 15 months ago, stands at the top of it for the first time ever.