Barcelona edged past Girona 2-1 in a tense La Liga encounter at the Estadi Olímpic, securing just their third home win in six meetings with Los Blanquivermells and climbing above Real Madrid to the top of the table.
The Blaugrana wasted no time asserting dominance, with Marcus Rashford forcing an early save from Paulo Gazzaniga via a curling free-kick, while Lamine Yamal tormented Girona’s defence from the right flank.
Michel’s men lined up in a deep 5-1-4 formation to absorb the early pressure, but their resistance broke when Pedri weaved through the visitors’ backline and saw his reverse effort kiss the post on its way in, extending Barça’s remarkable scoring streak to 47 consecutive matches, a new club record.
Girona slowly grew into the game and punished Barcelona’s slack defending from a corner.
Veteran Axel Witsel, the oldest player on the pitch, produced a sensational overhead kick to level the contest.
Moments later, Wojciech Szczęsny was forced into a vital save to deny Portu before the winger rattled the post after slicing through Barça’s high line.
The first half was a pulsating end-to-end affair. Gazzaniga brilliantly denied Frenkie de Jong’s drive, while Rashford’s venomous free-kick crashed against the woodwork.
Girona, meanwhile, squandered two huge chances through Bryan Gil and Witsel before the interval.
Substitute Fermín López tested Gazzaniga from distance early in the second half, but Girona refused to back down.
Gil continued to threaten on the break as the rain poured down and tempers flared. Pau Cubarsí thought he had restored Barça’s lead around the hour mark, only for VAR to intervene for an earlier foul.
Rashford then missed a sitter from point-blank range and drew two more top saves from Gazzaniga as Barcelona pushed desperately for a winner.
Girona sat deep and looked to counter, soaking up wave after wave of pressure from the hosts.
Tensions boiled over late on when Barça boss Hansi Flick was sent off for dissent, drawing jeers from frustrated home supporters.
But relief finally came deep into stoppage time as Ronald Araújo slid in to convert from close range, sealing a dramatic 93rd-minute victory.
The defeat extended Girona’s unwanted streak to 12 LaLiga losses in matches where they’ve conceded first, a run that ironically began against Barcelona back in March.
