Real Madrid 1-1 Girona (Valverde). More points dropped… Here is the immediate reaction. To come: Player ratings and interview highlights.
With everything to play for in the second Champions League leg against Bayern Munich on Wednesday, Girona was not the game at the forefront of many Real Madrid minds. But with Barcelona having a bigger hurdle to climb after a local derby in the league, anything but a Madrid win might raise some serious questions regarding to commitment of the club towards domestic competitions. The line-up looked good to counter that notion, with Jude Bellingham returning to the starting team, joined by Dani Carvajal and Fran García. Brahim Díaz entered the attack, and Raúl Asencio was given a chance after a turbulent week in the press. Thiago Pitarch was benched, joined by a whole host of other Castilla players and players awaiting Munich next week. Dani Carvajal captained the team.
Real Madrid clearly were up for it, starting on the front-foot and coming close through Jude Bellingham and Fede Valverde. Andriy Lunin had to make an acrobatic save at the other end to deny the visitors their only chance at a goal, as the home side looked comfortable. Jude appeared to be the main man, covering huge amounts of space all over the pitch. Despite the good work, the half ended even.
The second half continued the good work from the first, as Fede Valverde scored a fortunate, yet deserved effort from distance to finally give Real Madrid a lead. They continued to play well after this, but in true Real Madrid style, conceded an equaliser through Thomas Lemar. A special strike that needed no fortune to find the net. The tides turned from here, as frustration began to creep in. This led to a cagey closing stage with few chances created. A couple of penalty shouts were all Madrid were able to conjure up, resulting in the 1-1 draw. Do you think this was a must win game?
