AFC Bournemouth face their second game of pre-season on Saturday, taking on Spanish side Girona at Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys, the Olympic stadium in Barcelona.
Catalan side Girona were relegated from La Liga on the final day of last season, and afcb.co.uk caught up with Spanish football expert Simon Harrison to learn more about the Cherries' weekend opponents.
YOU CAN WATCH SATURDAY'S GAME FOR FREE ON AFCBTV HERE.
afcb.co.uk: Give us a little bit of background on the Girona team we will take on...
SH: Girona were a nearly club for a number of years, they had a reputation in Segunda Division for perhaps bottling it a little bit. They had a few nearly moments under former coach Pablo Machin but then got promoted and in their first season in La Liga they did better than expectations,. In fact they did so well that Machin was poached by Sevilla and from there it's fallen apart a bit.
It's quite a small club, they have kept true to quite a few of the players that helped them get to La Liga, so that's similar to Bournemouth. The core of the squad there now were there when they were promoted.
Then there are the links with Manchester City with Girona being part of the City Football Group, they share kit deals and have benefited quite a bit from loans from City, the Premier League club using Girona almost as a bit of a finishing school for some of their players who aren't ready for the league in England yet.
In some ways they're a small club doing things right and in other ways they're part of this bigger machine.
afcb.co.uk: How much will relegation affect the club for the coming season?
SH: This is where they're quite lucky to be a part of the City Football Group, having that relationship with City and other clubs, it means if they do need some more players they can perhaps loan them in.
Everything had looked to be going right, but despite going down there are still reasons to be positive, not least because they've kept a lot of the squad together. At the same time they've taken a few steps forwards and now they've taken one and half back, which is a shame for them.
afcb.co.uk: What can we expect from Girona against the Cherries on Saturday evening?
SH: They've hired a good coach in Juan Carlos Unzue, he was Luis Enrique's assistant at Barcelona during a time when the club won a lot of trophies. He's now stepped away to do his own thing, he was manager at Celta Vigo where he had a bit of a mixed bag. He did okay there, but perhaps not as well as some people would have hoped.
He's still a very good coach, and Girona are a side who are very comfortable on the ball. Generally they'll be a solid team, well organised and they like to play. The defenders are comfortable to have it and I imagine that they'll retain the threat that they had last season.
They might be a little bit light up front, they have Cristhian Stuani, who used to play at Middlesbrough, but I doubt they'll be able to keep hold of him until the new season.
Bournemouth like to play football and Girona have done that for the last couple of years so it should be a good game.
afcb.co.uk: Which players should we be looking out for against the Cherries on Saturday?
SH: The captain, Alex Granell, has a very good left foot and is very dangerous from set pieces. Their central defenders are very good in the air which means the team could be a threat from set pieces.
In Borja Garcia they have a really nice creative attacking midfielder who was actually really good for them in La Liga and I'm surprised he hasn't moved on. He's talented, he came through Real Madrid's academy.
This week they've also announced the signing of Samuel Saiz. He was at Huesca in the second division and scored a lot of goals, with Leeds then picking him up in England. He did okay in his first season at Elland Road but then went off the boil and was loaned to Getafe last season, where again he was quiet.
For the level Girona are now at he's a very talented player, he can create something out of nothing and when he turns up he is very good. He is liable to not showing all the time and being consistent.
Stuani's replacement is Marc Gual, who was originally at Sevilla then went out on loan. He's been in and around the Spain under-21s squad, Guel's not really proven that he's good enough yet but he's anther young player who people are expecting to push on at some point.
