Barcelona not the only Catalan side facing a do-or-die match at the weekend

Barcelona’s team fly to Berlin on Thursday to settle in the German capital ahead of Saturday’s Champions League final. Their fans won’t be far behind and at least 20,000 of them will make the 1,200-mile journey.

Barça’s away following is often pitifully small, but it’s better in European competition and they’ve got a proud record of taking tens of thousands to the many finals they reach. Images of the 1979 Cup Winners’ Cup final in Basel, from the days when European Cup finals were what Real Madrid played in and not Barça, are prominent in the Camp Nou museum. Spain wasn’t a democracy back then and foreign travel was rare, but the planes and coaches will speed north through Catalonia towards Berlin.

As is the norm with any European final, flights booked up quickly. Returns with a budget airline shot up from €150 to €800. The club are charging €500 for charter flights which go in and out on the day of the game, or €150 to travel 18 hours each way by coach.

Flights will depart from Barcelona and Girona, while the coaches will all pass by Girona, Catalonia’s third biggest city outside the Barcelona metropolitan area, with 97,198 souls. It’s 60 miles north of Barcelona; very Catalanista, where a majority desire independence; and close to the border with France.

It is also home to many of the world’s leading cyclists. Cycling is hugely popular in Girona and the professionals appreciate the climate, decent air and rail connections, the nearby Pyrenees for climbing and beautiful coastal roads of the Costa Brava. Package tourism to some of the less salubrious resorts further south helped make Girona wealthy.

Girona was a happy place this week as its El Cellar de Can Roca was again named the best restaurant in the world. The good vibe could continue this weekend.

Barça are the most popular team in Girona and there are coaches leaving from the city and its surrounding towns and villages for all games at Camp Nou. The game in Berlin will be watched eagerly, but Barça’s popularity is one reason why Girona’s football club have spent more seasons in Spain’s regional third tier than any other.

That has changed in recent years and they’ve become more of a force. In 2009, Girona were promoted to Spain’s second tier for the first time in 50 years. Their Montilivi ground was still fraying and only had seating on three sides, while their budget was typical of that of a mid-table second division club. They finished 16th and 14th in 2010, but in 2012 they reached the play-off final and lost to Almeria.

This season has been their best to date and they sit second behind champions Real Betis. A win on Sunday in their final league game at home to mid-table Lugo and they’ll be promoted for the first time in their history. Sporting Gijon, two points behind and the only team who can catch them, are at champions Betis.

Girona boast a small squad, but it has stayed free of serious injuries, they didn’t fade as expected and have won seven and drawn one of their last eight games. They’ve been winning games with late goals, such as they tense recent derby against neighbours, the mighty minnows Llagostera, which was one of four Girona games attended by this column in recent months.

They played at Mallorca last week and won – with a 76th minute goal from star forward, once of Brighton, Glasgow Rangers and Dundee United. It’s an impressive achievement for a club with a limited budget of €5 million a year (Betis’ is €22 million, Valladolid’s €8, Las Palmas’ €10 million) who have a self-imposed salary cap of €110,000 per year for their best players.

Girona is interested in football and many players hail from nearby; Barça’s Tito Vilanova and Gerard Deulofeu – but it’s not a hardcore football area. Gironese are proud people but the atmosphere in the 9,400 capacity Montilivi is tepid and lacking passion, with a limited fan culture.

Gates have risen from 4,000 at the start of this season to twice that number. Winning football helps and the crowds have come thanks to a ‘Never Empty’ (In English) campaign. The club have put coaches on to away games which include match tickets for €15.

Two thousand Girona fans travelled to the recent derby at soon-to-be relegated Barça B at the Mini Estadi. They won 4-2 against a team including Samper, Sandro, Halilovic and Munir, all of whom have first team experience with Barça. Next season, the Girona fans will likely be watching their team over the road at Camp Nou.

Girona have used an effective 3-5-2 formation. The three central midfielders are local, with 22-year-old Pepe Pons the standout, alongside Eloi and Alex Granell.

With Eibar relegated, the council owned Montilivi would be the smallest venue in La Liga, but there’s ample room to expand it on all four sides.  Let’s not get carried away, though: they were only getting 4,000 through the doors just a few months ago.

And it’s only two months ago that the ownership of the club changed hands. Girona has not been stable financially and Pep Guardiola’s agent brother Pere was brought in to find a buyer for the club which has debts of €4.5 million. He did that, but the new buyer remains secretive. There is speculation that it’s Jaume Roures, one of the owners of the Spain’s huge MediaPro company, working with Guardiola, an agent who represents Andres Iniesta, Luis Suarez and others.

The Girona players, who can’t stop winning, have taken Osmani Garcia’s Ft. Pitbull’s El Taxi as their anthem before matches. There could be plenty of people in Girona wanting a taxi home after celebrating this weekend.