Girona's struggles continued in the Spanish league with a 2-1 loss to Villarreal on Sunday, extending the team's winless streak to six games after a promising start to its season.
Girona made its top-flight debut with a draw against Atletico Madrid and a win at Malaga, giving fans hopes of a successful season, but it hasn't been able to win since, losing four matches and drawing two.
Sunday's loss dropped the Catalan team to 17th in the 20-team standings, just outside the relegation zone.
"It shouldn't be a strange thing to see Girona near the bottom of the table," Girona coach Pablo Machin said. "This is the elite. We want to enjoy it, but we also will have to suffer. Our goal is to finish the season with three teams below us."
French forward Cedric Bakambu scored twice in the first 20 minutes to give Villarreal the victory at Montilivi Stadium in Girona. The hosts scored with striker Christian Stuani just before halftime.
It was the second straight win for Villarreal after three consecutive games without a victory. It moved to eighth place with 13 points, seven more than Girona after eight matches.
Leader Barcelona, which lost its perfect record after a 1-1 draw at Atletico Madrid on Saturday, is five points in front of second-place Real Madrid, which moved closer by winning 2-1 at Getafe with a late winner by Cristiano Ronaldo. Atletico is third, six points off the lead.
Unbeaten Valencia can move to second place with a win at Real Betis later Sunday.
NEAR BOTTOM
Eibar and Deportivo La Coruna couldn't manage more than a 0-0 draw that left both teams near the bottom of the standings.
Eibar, winless in four matches and in 16th place, found the net with forward Sergi Enrich in second-half injury time but the goal was correctly called off for offside.
Deportivo, which has only two wins this season, stayed in 15th place with eight points.
Eibar, one point behind Deportivo, visits Real Madrid in the next round.
