A dead team': Girona staring into the abyss after crushing loss to Levante | Sid Lowe

"They were the football team so good, so much fun, that Luis Enrique declared himself a fan, tuning in to watch them every week. But that was then and this is now, and now even their actual fans aren't sure they want to watch any more. There were 11,048 people at Montilivi this Saturday, out of the city centre and to the south beyond the Free City of Braavos and Kings Landing. There were at the start anyway; by the time Girona FC, the last and briefest of the great disruptors, conceded the fourth goal of another miserable afternoon most of them had already gone. The few who stayed chanted for the board to resign, just about audible over the catchiest club anthem in La Liga being belted out of huge speakers hung from scaffolding stands. It was the fifth time in a row Girona's supporters had seen their team lose here going back to May, a summer break, a new start, offering no break at all; instead, they were bottom of the table and had been battered again."

"Sevilla had come and scored two, Rayo Vallecano three, now Levante had four. They had gone to Villarreal and let in five. Girona, owned by Manchester City, the best of Spain's other teams a year ago, Champions League anthem blaring out just a few months back, have a single point from when they drew 1-1 with Celta de Vigo, and that's nothing special: Celta draw 1-1 with everyone, their last five games all finishing with the same scoreline."

"In a city of 98,255 that provides the setting for Game of Thrones and sometimes seems to have better things to do than football, where those who were into the game traditionally tended to be Barcelona fans, Girona had made history. Living up to it is proving hard."

Girona FC have collapsed from recent success into a severe slump, collecting only one point and sitting bottom of the table. Home attendances have fallen sharply as fans leave matches early and some chant for the board to resign. The team has suffered a run of heavy defeats, conceding multiple goals in successive games and failing to build momentum after a summer restart. Ownership by Manchester City and recent European prominence have not prevented the decline. The club rose to La Liga in 2017 and made surprising progress, but sustaining that success is proving difficult amid poor results and diminishing local support.

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