Injuries spoil Real Madrid's party in Girona (0-3)

Real Madrid took a breather in the midst of their sporting crisis at Montilivi. The Merengue team visited Girona on matchday 16 of LaLiga EA Sports 2024/25 and managed to get the three points with a victory that, despite bringing them closer to FC Barcelona in the standings, may have cost them dearly due to the muscle injury suffered by Jude Bellingham.

And in a first half full of shadows, the English midfielder was the only light for Carlo Ancelotti's team. The Girona team started the match strongly and constantly threatened Thibaut Courtois' area, although their lack of aim prevented them from taking the lead on the scoreboard.

A situation that was well taken advantage of by the visitors, who despite generating very little danger with very poor football, knew how to capitalize on an error by their rival to open the scoring. In the midst of a carom inside Paulo Gazzaniga's area, the ball ended up falling at the feet of Bellingham, whose shot went between the legs of practically the entire defense to sneak into the Argentine's goal.

Madrid closes in on Barça

Upon returning from the locker room, Madrid took control of the match led by the Briton, who gave a great assist to Arda Güler for the second goal. However, a few minutes later the Merengue '5' fell on the Montilivi turf due to muscle discomfort, setting off alarm bells at the Santiago Bernabéu.

Later, Kylian Mbappé shook off his bad streak with the goal that ended up deciding the match, and Ferland Mendy once again gave the club a new 'headache' after suffering a muscle setback that forced him to leave the match.

In this way, Carlo Ancelotti's team is dangerously close to FC Barcelona in the league table after their 'stumble' against Betis. The Whites have 36 points, 2 points behind the Catalans with a game pending, which they will play on Thursday 2nd January against Valencia.

Match details

• Girona: Gazzaniga; Arnau Martínez, David López, Krejci, Miguel Gutiérrez; Bryan Gil (Danjuma, m. 58), Iván Martín, Oriol Romeu, Van de Beek (Portu, m. 78), Asprilla y Miovski (Ruíz, m. 58).
• Real Madrid: Courtois; L. Vázquez, Rüdiger, Tchpuaméni, Mendy (F. García, m. 81); Valverde (Asencio, m. 81), Modric, Bellingham (Ceballos, m. 61); Brahim, Güler (Yáñez, m. 89) y Mbappé (Endrick, m. 81).
• Referee: Gil Manzano.
• Incidents: Match corresponding to Matchday 16 of LaLiga EA Sports 2024-25
• Goals: 0-1, Bellingham (min. 36); 0-2, Güler (min. 55); 0-3, Mbappé (min. 62).