After the Champions League, Real Madrid returned to La Liga . Having been held to draws in their last two league matches, Los Blancos needed to finally get back to winning ways at the Stadio Montilivi against Girona (18th) in Matchday 14. Against the bottom-placed team, Xabi Alonso fielded a 4-3-3 formation and made five changes to the starting lineup that secured a 4-3 victory against Olympiacos in the Champions League on Wednesday. Courtois, who had been ill earlier in the week, returned in goal. Rüdiger, sidelined for two months, made his return in defense alongside Militao, while Fran García started at left-back. On the bench in Greece, Bellingham partnered Valverde and Tchouameni in midfield. Also of note was the return of Mastantuono, who hadn't played since November 1st against Valencia. On the other side, Michel notably started Belgian Axel Witsel and Azzedine Ounahi, formerly of OM, in midfield.
From the outset, Real Madrid tried to put pressure on their opponents. After a dazzling display from Mbappé, Güler's powerful shot went just wide of Gazzaniga's right post (9th minute). Moments later, the Madrid number 10's attempt sailed well over the bar (11th minute). Girona tried to be dangerous on the counter-attack and even registered the first shot on target of the match, through Tsigongov (26th minute). A few moments later, Ounahi's curling effort went just wide of Courtois' left post (27th minute). Ten minutes later, Militão headed home from close range after a cross from Mbappé, forcing Gazzaniga to make a flying save (38th minute). Mbappé then thought he had opened the scoring following a scramble in the box. But his goal was disallowed for a handball (41st minute). Much to Real Madrid's dismay, they were caught off guard just before halftime. On another counter-attack, Moreno found Tsygankov in the center. The Ukrainian then laid the ball off to Ounahi in the box. With a first-time shot, the Moroccan blasted the ball past Courtois to give Girona the lead (44th minute, 1-0).
Real Madrid's third consecutive draw in La Liga
Dissatisfied with his players' performance, Xabi Alonso decided to substitute Camavinga for Güler at halftime. This didn't faze Girona, who came close to scoring a second goal when Ivan Martin found Vanat perfectly. Courtois quickly dived to the ground to prevent Real Madrid from conceding a second (57th minute). Eight minutes later, Rincon stepped on Vinícius Júnior's foot in the penalty area. As usual, it was Mbappé who stepped up to take the penalty. Although Gazzaniga guessed the right way, the Frenchman converted his spot-kick to score his 14th league goal and level the score (1-1, 67th minute).
The pressure then intensified on the Catalan goal, with several attempts from Vinicius (78th, 79th, and 82nd minutes). But the Brazilian was once again very imprecise in this match. Girona also had chances to seal the victory, with Roca scoring in the 84th minute. The match-winning opportunity fell to Mbappé after a pass from Bellingham. But the former PSG player's shot went wide of Gazzaniga's left post (90+4). After draws against Rayo Vallecano (0-0) and Elche (2-2), Real Madrid conceded their third consecutive draw (1-1). Real Madrid thus suffered a setback this weekend, dropping to second place in the standings and relinquishing the top spot in the league to FC Barcelona.
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