The top of the table is still very close and Girona keeps on delivering these great performances. They were promoted into La Liga just two years ago and finished the last season as 10th and as it looks now they are ready to take the next step and make further progress. This looks very solid and stable so far, no real signs of weaknesses and no crack in their outstanding shape which they have been showing for weeks now. I think the first goal for them is to play like this until the season halftime and then make a first evaluation and set their goals. With 22 points won already it is hard to imagine how they could still be dealing with the relegation zone at some point.
Losing to Real Madrid, I felt they would start dropping points but they have decided to make a good show of the chance they have. They won against Cadiz which showed they meant business and want to stay longer than we have predicted.
I will wait untill halfway of the season before I can judge or give a good conclusion.
Since Lewandoski and some players would be absent, Barcelona is likely to play a first half draw or we shall witness less goals scored in the first half. More like it was against Porto during the Champions League.
I didn't expect Girona to start dropping points when they lost against Real Madrid because of the way they played against Real Madrid. That wasn't a team which is about to collapse, and the result was really more one-sided than the game really was. Girona had more ball possession and about the same number of shots, but not surprisingly Real Madrid succeeded more often in making their way through the defense and into the dangerzone in the box. It was tough for Girona to defend Vinicius Junior and Bellingham at the same time and they had some great moves, but still the result could have been closer than that.