A 'sleep-inducing' Real Madrid defeats Girona and stays in the race for LaLiga (2-0)

The flattest version of Real Madrid was enough for them to stay in the title race. The merengues faced Girona at the Santiago Bernabéu for matchday 25 of LaLiga EA Sports 2024/25 with the obligation to earn three points to keep pace with FC Barcelona in the standings, and in a completely 'sleep-inducing' match, they achieved victory thanks to two 'sparks' from Modric and Vinicius Jr.

Coached by Carlo Ancelotti, they demonstrated once again that they lack nothing in football. The merengues displayed a thick and dull game, but it was enough to defeat a Girona side that offered little resistance at the white fortress. Thus, the Madrid team (54) surpassed Atlético de Madrid (53) and caught up with the culés at the top of the table, keeping the fight for the lead 'alive'.

Luka Modric gave Madrid a breather in the first half

The merengue team, aware of the importance of securing a home victory, started the match strongly. Vinicius Jr. led the team's attacks, and although he was very incisive on the left flank, his need for prominence led him to be imprecise and make several poor decisions in the final third.

As the minutes passed, the team coached by Míchel began to gain weight in the match and threatened Courtois' goal a couple of times with close-range shots from Arnau Martínez and Donny van de Beek, but the Belgian goalkeeper prevented his goal from falling on both occasions with two miraculous 'saves'.

The duel began to complicate for the whites, whose offense started to become thick and found no solutions at the edge of Gazzaniga's area. However, in the 41st minute, Luka Modric picked up a rebound just outside the arc and unleashed a powerful volley to break the red-and-white goal and send the match into halftime with a partial lead for the locals.

Madrid continued its pursuit of the referees from the stands

Apart from the sporting aspect, Real Madrid continued to embarrass itself with its blatant 'hunt' of the refereeing collective. In an act of hypocrisy, the merengue players took a group photo with the referees and Girona players with the slogan "Respect the referee - Respect football". However, from the stands, a completely opposite and extremely serious opinion was shouted.

According to 'Relevo', the whites took a further step in their shameful battle against the referees and, at the club's request, the fans chanted "Corruption in the Federation" in the 12th minute of the match, accompanied by a loud booing. The Madridistas thus maintain their unusual victim stance and ignore the fact that, in the last 100 years, no team has benefited more from refereeing than they have.

Madrid stays in the race for LaLiga

Upon returning from the locker room, Madrid continued its siege of the red-and-white area, although with little success. A desperate Vinicius Jr. sought his goal by all means and began to become a burden for the merengue attack, which failed to increase its lead on the scoreboard and feared a possible equalizer from the visitors.

However, Girona was absent in the second half, focusing on resisting the whites' onslaught and generating little offensive danger. The match turned into a borefest with two teams that seemed lost on the field, and when it seemed that the whites would end up winning by the minimum, the '7' Brazilian appeared to break his three-month drought in LaLiga and seal the merengue triumph.

Thus, the team coached by Carlo Ancelotti is back in the title race for LaLiga. The Madridistas break their streak of three winless matches in the championship and earn three points that allow them to keep pace with Barça at the top of the standings. However, if they maintain the performance shown this Sunday at the Bernabéu, it seems just a matter of time before they sink and leave the azulgranas as the sole leaders of the tournament.

Technical sheet of the match:

• Real Madrid, 2: Courtois; L. Vázquez, Asencio, Alaba (Camavinga, min. 73), Mendy; Modric (Rüdiger, min. 86), Tchouameni; Rodrygo, Brahim Díaz (Ceballos, min. 73), Vinicius (Endrick, min. 90+1); Mbappé.
• Girona, 0: Gazzaniga; Arnau, David López, Krejci, Blind; Oriol Romeu (Solís, min. 66), Iván Martín (Gil, min. 66); Tsygankov, Van de Beek (Arthur, min. 56), Miguel Gutiérrez (Miovski, min. 75); Danjuma (Asprilla, min. 66).
• Goals: 1-0, Luka Modric (min. 41); 2-0, Vinicius Jr. (min. 83).
• Referee: Cuadra Fernández.
• Stadium: Santiago Bernabéu.