Girona vs Barcelona, La Liga: Team News, Preview, Lineups, Score Prediction

Girona FC (fifteenth, 26pts) vs FC Barcelona (2nd, 58pts)

Competitors/Spherical: 2025-26 La Liga, Matchday 24

Barcelona Outs & Doubts: Gavi, Pedri, Marcus Rashford, Andreas Christensen (out)

Girona Outs & Doubts: Juan Carlos, Donny van de Beek, Portu, Marc-André ter Stegen, Álex Moreno (out), Azzedine Ounahi (doubt)

Barcelona Kind Information: WWWWL

Date/Time: Monday, February 16, 2026, 9pm CET/WAT (Barcelona & Nigeria), 8pm GMT (UK), 3pm ET, 12pm PT (USA), 1.30am IST (India, Tuesday)

Venue: Estadi Montilivi, Girona, Catalonia, Spain

Referee: César Soto Grado

VAR: David Gálvez Rascón

The right way to watch on TV: ESPN2 (USA), Premier Sports activities 1 (UK), SuperSport (Nigeria), others

The right way to watch on-line: ESPN+ (USA), Premier Sports activities Participant (UK), FanCode (India), DAZN (Spain), others

Following their worst defeat of the season in opposition to Atlético Madrid to depart their Copa del Rey title protection hopes hanging by a thread, Barcelona return to motion for an important La Liga sport in opposition to Catalan rivals Girona on the Montilivi Stadium on Monday Evening Fútbol.

It is vitally, very uncommon that Barça play on a Monday, and the weekend introduced much more dangerous information as Actual Madrid beat Actual Sociedad on Saturday to take short-term possession of first place within the desk and put a ton of stress on a wounded Barça to get the job accomplished and regain high spot within the standings.

The defeat to Atlético was the right alternative for the skilled overreactors to return again into the highlight and supply all of their loud criticisms, and people who solely talk about Hansi Flick’s system when it doesn’t work are having loads of enjoyable proper now, regardless that Flick’s fatally flawed ways have resulted in 4 trophies in 18 months and the deepest Champions League run in six years with by far the least sum of money invested amongst all of the elite groups in Europe. However positive, do go off in regards to the excessive line.

The loss in Madrid nonetheless hurts however is prior to now, and Barça nonetheless have an opportunity, as distant because it seems now, to overturn that deficit at house within the second leg (and boy wouldn’t it be hilarious in the event that they did). All they will do now could be transfer on, and in a manner one of the best factor for them is having the possibility to play so rapidly after that catastrophe to allow them to put in a robust efficiency and restore the great vibes.

Barça shall be thought-about favorites on paper in opposition to a Girona group only one level above the relegation zone, however this isn’t the identical group we noticed wrestle a lot within the first half of the season. Míchel continues to show his worth as a coach as he discovered a manner to enhance his protection and convey extra stability to the facet, and Girona have been glorious in 2026 with three wins, two attracts and only one defeat in six video games, and are trying so much stronger within the battle in opposition to relegation.

Girona’s greatest efficiency earlier than the flip of the yr was really of their first assembly of the season with Barça, as they went into Montjuïc and gave the Blaugrana all they might deal with earlier than Hansi Flick introduced Ronald Araujo off the bench as a striker and the Uruguayan scored a memorable 93rd minute winner. That was the primary signal that Girona had been really higher than their horrible place within the desk prompt, and we’re lastly seeing that enchancment flip into constructive outcomes.

Girona will present a extremely powerful check for a Barça group that have to show their psychological toughness to bounce again from their worst efficiency of the season, and the Blaugrana have to be ready for an actual battle on the highway in opposition to a group that gained’t be afraid to go toe-to-toe with them and can doubtless attempt to replicate Atlético’s aggressive gameplan to see if Barça have realized their classes.

The skilled overreactors shall be salivating and able to explode if Barça don’t beat a relegation candidate that they simply defeated 7-0 (on Beginner problem) of their video video games, however this actually is a must-win sport for Flick and his troops. They should show that what occurred in Madrid was a blip, not a pattern, and a giant victory in a tricky atmosphere could be a pleasant first step.

Barcelona (4-2-3-1): Joan; Kounde, Cubarsí, Eric, Balde; De Jong, Bernal; Yamal, Fermín, Ferran; Lewandowski

Girona (4-2-3-1): Gazzaniga; Rincón, Reis, Blind, Arnau; Beltrán, Martín; Tsygankov, Lemar, Gil; Vanat

It is a a lot better Girona facet in comparison with the one which already brought about so many issues for Barça earlier this season, so I count on a extremely powerful away sport that may actually check this group’s psychological state. However I’m selecting to imagine the Atleti defeat was a constructive wake-up name, and the Blaugrana will play nicely and go away Montilivi with a robust end result of their favor: 3-1 to the great guys.