Donny van de Beek, a former Manchester United player, was dealt a serious setback when Girona was demoted from La Liga on Saturday, only a year after the team participated in the Champions League.
Van de Beek, 29, played just 62 games for the Red Devils during his challenging four-year tenure at Old Trafford after initially coming from Ajax for £35 million in 2020.
Prior to the 2024–25 season, he relocated to Girona, where the La Liga team was getting ready for their inaugural European campaign.
But less than two years later, the City Football Group-owned Catalan team was demoted from the Spanish top division after a dramatic final day, dropping them back to the second division for the first time since 2022.
Seven teams might still lose in the tumultuous relegation race going into Saturday, with two unfortunate teams expected to join Real Oviedo, who had already been demoted.
Girona started the day in 18th place, barely three points behind Sevilla in 13th place and two points behind their rivals Elche in 17th.
A year after participating in the Champions League, Girona was demoted from La Liga.
Due to injury, former Manchester United player Donny van de Beek only made two appearances this season.
Elche took the lead in the first half thanks to a spectacular goal from Alvaro Rodriguez. Arnau Martinez tied the score early in the second half, but Girona was unable to produce another goal and ultimately lost, leaving a number of players in tears at the end.
Girona fell to 19th position as Mallorca defeated Real Oviedo 3-0, but the Pirates were still demoted because of their head-to-head record even though they finished tied with Osasuna and Levante on points.
It completes a tremendous decline for Girona, whose chairman is Pep’s brother Pere Guardiola, after an equally spectacular ascent earlier.
They were relegated two years after winning promotion to La Liga for the first time in their history in 2017.
However, Girona were promoted once more in 2022 and made it to the Champions League in 2024 after finishing third after an incredible season in which they dominated the league for a considerable amount of time.
They finished 16th last season as a result of that European campaign, which saw them eliminated in the League Phase after earning only three points from eight games.
Despite having faith in manager Michel, who was the one to get them promoted in 2022, the team was unable to bounce back from that collapse this time around, hovering around the relegation zones throughout the season.
Girona’s terrible season also occurs in spite of the team’s stellar roster.
They include former Premier League players Paul Gazzaniga, Bryan Gil, and Daley Blind in addition to Van de Beek.
The La Liga standings before to the last day, with seven teams still in danger before play started
At the end of the game, a number of Girona players, notably Arnau Martinez (above), were in tears.
Along with Champions League mainstays Axel Witsel, Thomas Lemar, and Marc-Andre ter Stegen, they also have Man City loanees Vitor Reis and Claudio Echeverri on their roster.
But after signing in January, Ter Stegen only made two appearances due to injury, a fate that also befell Van de Beek following an Achilles rupture in September.
For the last two games of the season, he did make a comeback to the matchday squad, but the Dutchman was not utilized as a substitute either time.
