In-form Barcelona ready for revenge mission at Girona

Hansi Flick’s revitalised Barcelona have started the campaign with four consecutive La Liga wins that have got fans excited and on Sunday they will make the one-hour drive to neighbours Girona for a Catalan derby aiming to avenge last season’s two defeats.
Girona secured a best-ever third-place finish last term and qualified for the Champions League for the first time but they started off the pace in the new campaign, drawing at Real Betis in their opener before losing 3-0 at Atletico Madrid.
However, they bounced back with solid wins against Osasuna and Sevilla and looked a lot like the exciting attacking side which took La Liga by storm in their historic campaign.
Backed by the wealth of their Abu Dhabi owners and only four years after being promoted to the top flight, Girona went toe-to-toe with Real Madrid in the title race last season.
They also enjoyed beating Barca twice and contributed to their Catalan rivals’ trophyless campaign that ended with the controversial firing of manager Xavi Hernandez, a Barca great as a player but who left on bad terms with the club in disarray.
Struggling to comply with La Liga’s strict Financial Fair Play rules, Barcelona had to let players like Ilkay Gundogan, Clement Lenglet and Vitor Roque go and could not re-sign Portugal’s Joao Felix and Joao Cancelo.
They made only one major addition in the transfer market – Spain attacking midfielder Dani Olmo from RB Leipzig.
With all the talk surrounding Real Madrid, who added France captain Kylian Mbappe to an already star-studded squad that won a La Liga-Champions League double, Barca fans were not optimistic after the club unveiled ex-Bayern Munich and Germany coach Flick to help them re-establish themselves at home and in Europe.
However, Barca started the season with an attacking lineup on fire, headed by rejuvenated striker Robert Lewandowski, who is La Liga top scorer with four goals, teenage sensation Lamine Yamal and Olmo, who has shone after helping Spain win Euro 2024.
Brazilian forward Raphinha has also finally become the difference maker Barca hoped for.
Despite losing midfielder Fermin Lopez to a leg injury, Flick has all his other players back in one piece after international duty.