Manchester City are facing direct competition in their UEFA Champions League (UCL) participation for next season but the threat isn’t from England, but far away from Spain.
The City Football Group (CFG) owns a total of 13 football teams all around the world, and it includes Man City and La Liga side Girona, with CFG owning 47% rights of the Spanish cup.
Girona surprised the world of football this season with their top form, having lost only one game so far this season which came against Real Madrid, the Catalan club sits on top of La Liga, ahead of the Whites, Barcelona and Atletico Madrid.
On the other hand, Man City are five points behind leaders Liverpool with a game in hand. Pep Guardiola’s side is the current English as well as European champions and have qualified for the European competition for 13 years straight.
Should Girona win the league and Man City finish behind Liverpool, as per the current scenario, Guardiola’s side will not be able to participate in the UCL for next season as per UEFA’s rule.
UEFA rule on multi-club ownership states that no individual entity "may have control or influence over more than one club participating in a UEFA competition."
This means at a time, only one of Girona or Man City would be able to participate in the Champions League.
If, by the end of the season, both clubs end in the direct qualification zone, the club that finishes higher than the other will earn a qualification to the competition while the other will be banned from Europe.
However, if both Girona and Man City finish second, the team with the greatest club coefficient will make way to the event, in this case, that would be the Cityzens.
Unless the regulations change or something else happens drastically, given how the season is going, only one of City or Girona would be able to participate in next year’s Champions League.
