If Girona can complete their incredible season by winning La Liga, Manchester City might not be able to participate in the Champions League the next season.
The Premier League champions, who are also the current European champions, have qualified for Europe’s top competition for 13 years running and have advanced to the tournament’s knockout stage in 11 of those years.
However, if Girona wins the Spanish championship and City loses the Premier League, sister club Girona may be able to stop Pep Guardiola’s team from playing in the Champions League the following year due to the club’s multi-model ownership and UEFA restrictions, according to ESPN.
As things stand, Girona are top La Liga once again, while City are five points behind Liverpool.
The 13 teams that comprise the City Football Group, which owns clubs all around the world, include City and Girona. As of right now, CFG owns 47% of Girona.
Strong ties exist between City and the Spanish team since Pep’s brother, Pere Guardiola, is now Girona’s chairman and owns a 16 percent share in the team.
If two teams from the same ownership group qualify to compete in the same UEFA competition, the team with the best domestic position will receive a spot.
In the event that both teams finish in second place, the team with the greatest club coefficient rating would be eligible. That, in this case, would be Manchester City.
Given that INEOS recently acquired a minority share in Manchester United, these regulations are probably going to cause further problems in Manchester. They already own OGC Nice, a French team that is in second place in Ligue 1 and has a good chance of making it into the Champions League.
