Who will be the La Liga winner without Real Madrid or Barcelona? It’s a question that has only had one answer for the majority of the past decade, with Atletico Madrid the usual ‘third way' in Spanish football under Diego Simeone, despite winning the title as recently as 2021.
This season though, Catalan minnows Girona have taken the league by storm with a flying first half of 2023/24, which has seen them establish their credentials as candidates for a top-four finish at the very least.
In turn, this has seen them gain attention like never before. And in their seventh year as a sister club of European champions Manchester City within the City Football Group, they could be about to experience a golden era few people saw coming this soon.
Who will be La Liga winner without Real or Barcelona? – Latest news
Surprise package Girona 10 points clear in dreamland
Girona topped La Liga after 12 matches with some brilliant attacking football firing them to 10 victories and 31 points. New signings Savinho and Artem Dovbyk have been instrumental to date, especially after some valid concerns after a number of important loanees departed the Group B heavyweights GhanaEstadi Montilivi at the end of last term.
Yet, they’ve defied bottom-half expectations – and worse – to firmly establish themselves as a serious candidate to be the best of the rest behind Barcelona and Real Madrid. Ahead of January's second La Liga round, they sit level on points alongside the latter, and a whole 10 ahead of fifth-placed Atletico Madrid.
Unlike the 35-time Spanish champions, they bear no burden of expectation to deliver the grand prize, and that could still work in their favour in ways scarcely imaginable just mere months ago.
La Liga winner without Real Madrid or Barcelona – Current outrights
Girona
Over the past two months, Girona have cancelled out the 3/1 odds that were against them going into the November international break, and now stand as 4/7 favourites to be ‘best of the rest'. And as ever, it's worth remembering that the Catalans have never finished higher than 10th in the Spanish top flight – a league in which they had only spent three previous seasons before this one!
Their status as part of the powerful City Football Group is unquestionably a major factor in their rise, but it’s not the only reason they are doing well. Their boss Michel has done an incredible job in giving some talented young players freedom to express themselves and with a league-high average of 2.42 goals per game this term, their bubble is showing no sign of bursting.
Atletico Madrid
Despite being at risk of their first podium miss since 2012, Atletico Madrid can currently be backed at 9/4 to be the best placed team in La Liga this season excluding Barcelona and Real Madrid. That makes them the clear second-favourites in this exciting La Liga market.
There is still a strong case to be made for Atletico Madrid extending that record. In Antoine Griezmann, they have arguably the league’s outstanding player this calendar year, and with no sign of him making a move to the Premier League just yet, there are still more positives than negatives for the Rojiblancos.
Notably, both the Frenchman and strike partner Alvaro Morata were in double figures for goals in all competitions a week before the November international break. So if there’s a doubt about Atleti staying in their elite lane come May, then uncharacteristically for a Diego Simeone team, it’s perhaps the defence.
Athletic Bilbao
Back in November, Athletic were tied with Basque rivals Sociedad to claim this particular honour. But since booking their ticket to the Champions League knockouts, Sociedad have slumped, while Athletic have thrived and now stand at 8/1 on average to be La Liga ‘winners' behind the traditional big two.
A victory in Saturday's derby against Sociedad will only serve to keep Athletic's pressure on the likes of Girona, as well as avenge their 3-0 thrashing at the hands of Imanol Alguacil's men back in September's reverse fixture. That said, the absence of star player Inaki Williams, who is in action for Group B heavyweights Ghana at AFCON 2023, could be a complicating factor for up to five weeks.
Impressively though, that loss to Sociedad is Athletic's only league defeat to opposition currently lower than them in the table. Going back to the start of November, Athletic have won six of a possible nine La Liga games, with the last four all seeing them keep a clean sheet. That makes their 8/1 price a potential steal.
