Real Madrid and Girona cannot be compared because the difference in quality between these two teams is very different, but Girona this season has the confidence and chemistry of the players which is quite close so that they can produce good performances throughout this season.
Until now I have not seen any difference or decline in Girona's performance.
Girona managed to bounce back after three not so good match results, but that was not enough to change the position of the standings and they had to be patient waiting for Real Madrid to fall, which seemed difficult to happen, but Girona has become a competitive team this season and any team cannot underestimate they.
Rayo Vallecano succeeded in holding Real Madrid to a draw but they couldn't do that to Girona, in fact Rayo had to suffer a fairly heavy defeat 0-3.
Girona played very well in this match and the red card received by Rayo players in the 76th minute made it easy for Girona to score two additional goals so they could win with a landslide score.
Girona and Barcelona's competition for 2nd place in the standings may be a bit fierce because Barcelona has not had consistency throughout this season so even if Girona gets some bad results they still have a chance to still compete for 2nd place.
Second or third position in the standings does not make a difference to the results obtained because this position is guaranteed to play in the champions league next season only for Barcelona it will give them better confidence in the next season if they can get second place in the standings, because as defending champions but their position below from a team that performed normally in the previous season will certainly be unpleasant and this will be a very interesting competition because the difference is only two points.