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Can Man City and Girona both play in the Champions League?

jamie braidwood
·5 min read

As Girona look to pull off one of the biggest upsets in modern football history, it is not just those in Spain who will be eagerly watching to see if the club can beat Real Madrid and Barcelona to the LaLiga title. One interested party will be Manchester City. As both clubs are part of the City Football Group, Girona winning LaLiga or even finishing in the top four in Spain could have significant implications on next season’s Champions League. If both Girona and Manchester City qualify, there is a chance that only one of them will be allowed to play, given Uefa rules around multi-club ownership models.

The City Football Group would have been aware that such a situation was lingering on the horizon. Established in 2013, the City Football Group has built a network of football clubs around Manchester City through full or partial ownership. Its portfolio is extensive, with 13 clubs across five continents falling under the City Football Group banner. As well as Girona in Spain, there is New York City FC in the USA, Melbourne City in Australia, Yokohama Marinos in Japan, Palermo in Italy and Troyes in France.

But Girona would be the first City Football Group club outside of Manchester City to qualify for Europe’s Champions League, should they continue their excellent start to the season in Spain. With Pep Guardiola’s side also well placed to return to the Champions League through their Premier League form, it means European football’s governing body Uefa could have a big decision to make ahead of next season’s competition.

Can Manchester City and Girona both play in the Champions League next season?

Uefa’s competition rules state an individual or group cannot have “control or influence” over more than one club playing in the same tournament, ie the Champions League or Europa League.

The wording and definition of this rule has been tested in the past: notably when RB Leipzig and FC Red Bull Salzburg, two clubs owned by the Red Bull energy drink group, both qualified for the Champions League in 2017. Uefa initially ruled that only Red Bull Salzburg could participate, but then reversed its decision. It has been reported that both clubs submitted evidence to Uefa showing they had made changes to the governance of the two clubs, separating any alleged “control or influence” between them. Leipzig and Salzburg subsequently played each other in the group stages of the 2018-19 Europa League.

Red Bull’s two biggest clubs played each other in the Europa League (Getty Images)
Red Bull’s two biggest clubs played each other in the Europa League (Getty Images)

There have been recent examples involving Premier League clubs, too: last summer, both Brighton and Aston Villa were investigated by Uefa before they were able to participate in the Europa League and Europe Conference League respectively. Brighton and Belgium club Union Saint-Gilloise are both owned by Tony Bloom, while Aston Villa’s ownership group also had a controlling stake in Portuguese side Vitoria. Union Saint-Gilloise and Vitoria had also qualified for the respective competitions.

In order to comply with Uefa regulations, Villa’s holding company V Sports reduced its stake in Vitoria to 29 per cent and confirmed it “no longer had any representation” in the club’s board of directors. Union Saint-Gilloise said in a statement that it had made “certain changes” to their ownership structure. Uefa later confirmed that neither situation breached multi-club ownership regulations. Brighton and Union Saint-Gilloise both took part in the Europa League group stages while Aston Villa and Vitoria entered the Conference League.

Girona have been the surprise package in Europe this season (Getty Images)
Girona have been the surprise package in Europe this season (Getty Images)

What does that mean for Manchester City and Girona?

If Manchester City and Girona both qualify for the Champions League, they would almost certainly be investigated by Uefa to determine if an individual or group of people within one club had “control or influence” over the other.

City Football Group’s ownership acquired a 44.3 per cent stake in Girona FC when the club were promoted to the Primera Division in 2017, and since then Manchester City and Girona have been involved in several pieces of transfer business. Of the current Girona side, Aleix Garcia and Eric Garcia both used to play for Manchester City while Yan Couto is on loan from the Etihad this season. The Independent has also reported that Manchester City are interested in signing the winger Savio, who is on loan at Girona from French club Troyes, another team in the City Football Group.

What happens if Uefa don’t allow both clubs into the Champions League?

If Uefa’s investigation concludes that individuals within the City Football Group share “control or influence” over both Manchester City and Girona, and they are unable to make changes to their current governance structure, then only one of them will be allowed into the Champions League should they both qualify.

Uefa rules dictate that the team who finishes higher in their domestic league gets to qualify, with the other dropping into the Europa League. If they finish in the same position, the club with the higher Uefa coefficient gets in - which would be Manchester City given they won the tournament last season and are in Europe again this year. But if Girona win La Liga and Manchester City finish second, then last season’s winners would be unable to play in the Champions League unless Uefa are satisfied.