Girona denied Real Madrid a late winner as the two sides played to a 1-1 draw at Estadi Municipal de Montilivi on Sunday, extending Madrid’s LaLiga winless run to three consecutive matches.
Xabi Alonso’s Real Madrid dominated the early stages,creating several opportunities within the first 15 minutes. Kylian Mbappe twice shot wide, and Vinicius Junior’s attempt in the 23rd minute narrowly missed the crossbar.
Eder Militao’s header was saved by Girona goalkeeper Paulo Gazzaniga, and Mbappe had a goal disallowed five minutes before halftime following a VAR review for a handball.
Girona capitalized on the let-off, taking the lead just before the break with a stunning strike from Azzedine Ounahi.
Vinicius Junior also saw a goal disallowed in the 61st minute due to an offside call.Though, Madrid were awarded a penalty shortly after when Hugo Rincon fouled Vinicius in the box.
Mbappe converted the penalty, leveling the score with a shot into the bottom-left corner.
Despite continued pressure, including multiple chances for both Mbappe and Vinicius in the closing minutes, Madrid could not find a winning goal. Mbappe’s final attempt sailed just wide.
The draw leaves Real Madrid in second place, one point behind league leaders Barcelona.
Missed opportunities Plague Madrid
The match highlighted a frustrating trend for Madrid’s attacking stars.Both Mbappe and Vinicius will likely want to quickly move past their performance on Sunday.
Real Madrid registered 25 shots throughout the match, second onyl to Real Betis against Levante (28) for the most in a LaLiga game this season without securing a victory. However, they managed only four shots on target. Mbappe took five shots (one on target) and Vinicius seven (one on target).
Madrid’s expected goals (xG) total was 2.62, significantly higher than Girona’s 1.13 from 10 attempts (four on target).
This result marks the first time since December 2019 under Zinedine Zidane that Real Madrid has drawn three consecutive LaLiga matches (D3).
