First of all, it is not easy for Girona, as a mid-table La Liga team with a small heritage, to get to this point this season. Especially in the first half of the season, they led La Liga all the way, ahead of Real Madrid, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid. If this trend continues, Girona may even win the title, which will be no less than the miracle of Leicester City in the Premier League.
But unfortunately, since entering 2024, Girona's momentum has declined significantly, and after being overtaken by Real Madrid, it is now caught up by Barcelona and falls to third in La Liga. In fact, if you only pay attention to this season's La Liga today, you must be shocked to see Girona in third place, but the point is that Girona's tone from the first half of the season was too high, and now it has declined, which is more or less disappointing.
In fact, even if they finish third, Girona can be called a big dark horse. But today we are talking about the number one dark horse in Europe, and the standards are too high. Girona may be the dark horse in the top three this season, but first, at the moment, it seems that it is still a little bit behind. Unless, they can catch up and win the championship, but this is too unlikely.
Now that Girona's dark horse has decreased, who is the first dark horse in European football this season?
At the moment, there are only two options.
The first one is Brest in Ligue 1. Brest, like Girona, are also a mid-table team that has risen this season. However, contrary to Girona's lack of stamina in the first half, Brest focuses on the second half. In the first half, the biggest dark horse in Ligue 1 was Nice, the team that gave Paris the only league defeat so far this season. But now, Nice has fallen out of the Champions League zone. However, Brest, who was quiet in the first half of the season, climbed to second place.
Brest, like Nice, defended very well and conceded fewer goals than Grand Paris. However, Brest's attack is much better than Nice's, so they are higher in the rankings. Although it is basically impossible for Brest to reverse Paris to win the championship, as a team that has won only the Ligue 2 championship in history, it is already a great achievement to become the second in Ligue 1 and get a Champions League seat.
The second, Kaiserslautern. When it comes to Kaiserslautern, everyone must think of the miracle of the promoted horse winning the championship more than 20 years ago, but in the last decade or so, Kaiserslautern has been a low-level league team and has long disappeared from the mainstream view. However, this season, Kaiserslautern has made a wave of presence, as a team in the Bundesliga relegation zone, they actually reached the final of the German Cup.
Although Brest has an excellent result, they basically miss the Ligue 1 championship after all. But Kaiserslautern reached the final of the German Cup and definitely had a chance to win the title. Although their opponents are the mighty Bayer Leverkusen, they have all reached the final, what is impossible?
Let's put it this way, if Kaiserslautern pull off a miracle and beat Bayer Leverkusen to win the German Cup, then they will definitely be the dark horse in Europe this season. Even if you can't win the championship, as a Bundesliga team, it is definitely good enough to meet Bayer Leverkusen, the best team in European football this season. You know, Kaiserslautern may go to play in the Bundesliga next season.
Next, let's wait and see.