Federico Valverde’s second-half strike was cancelled out by a Thomas Lemar stunner as Real Madrid drew 1-1 at home to Girona on Matchday 31 of LaLiga to fall further behind title rivals Barcelona.
Madrid arrived knowing that nothing less than a win against Míchel Sánchez’s side would suffice, as their shock 2-1 defeat away to Mallorca last time out in LaLiga saw them slip to 7 points behind leaders Barca.
The Estadio Bernabéu, however, has been a consistent stronghold for Álvaro Arbeloa’s men who, coming into the contest, had won 13 of their 15 league encounters at home this season, and Valverde looked to have continued their impressive home record when his shot in the 51st minute squirmed through the hands of Paulo Gazzaniga.
But the home side’s lead was to last for just over 10 minutes, as Lemar unleashed a vicious strike from the edge of the area past a helpless Andriy Lunin to restore parity.
Despite a confident start from the hosts, which saw Álex Moreno produce a goal line clearance to deny Kylian Mbappé, Madrid were close to falling behind inside the opening quarter of an hour, only for Lunin to spectacular tip away Azzedine Ounahi’s venomous near-post strike.
Jude Bellingham, in search of his fifth goal in as many league appearances against Girona, failed to make sufficient contact with a Brahim Díaz cross, while Gazzaniga displayed impressive agility to deny a curled Valverde effort shortly before the half-hour mark.
The Uruguayan finally beat Gazzaniga five minutes after the interval, however, as he arrowed a 25-yard drive into the bottom corner, although the visiting keeper might have felt that he should have done better as he was left deceived by the flight of the ball.
Arbeloa will have been left disappointed with his side’s lack of attacking creativity once Lemar had hauled the visitors back level, as his team extended their winless streak to three matches in all competitions. Indeed, despite mustering a total of 22 shots across the match, 9 of which were on target, Real failed to find a way past Girona’s defence for a second time, much to the displeasure of a vocal Bernabéu crowd.
The hosts thought that they should have been awarded a penalty late on as Mbappé, still the division’s top scorer with 23 goals despite not having found the net since 8th February, appeared to have been caught in the face by a flailing Vitor Reis elbow. The appeals of the Madrid players and fans were, however, waved away by referee Javier Rojas, whose on-field decision of no penalty was confirmed by VAR.
Victory would have moved Madrid within four points of Barcelona. Instead, Los Blancos’ latest slip gives the Catalans the chance to extend their lead to nine points by beating Espanyol tomorrow. There is little recovery time for Arbeloa’s squad, too, as they seek to overturn a 2-1 first leg deficit when they travel to the Allianz Arena to take on Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarter-finals on Wednesday.
A 1-1 draw for Girona, the same result as in the reverse fixture earlier in the season at Municipal de Montilivi, marks only the second time in history that they have earned points in both of their LaLiga encounters against Real Madrid. The Catalan side move 9 points clear of the relegation zone and provisionally remain 12th in the standings ahead of the remaining Matchday 31 fixtures. Unlike Arbeloa, Míchel also has the luxury of a lengthy rest between fixtures, with his players not in action again until next Tuesday when they welcome Real Betis to Montilivi.
Match Officials: Referee: Javier Alberola Rojas; Video Assistant Referee: Daniel Jesús Trujillo Suárez; Assistant Referee 1: Alfredo Rodríguez Moreno; Assistant Referee 2: Jorge Bueno Mateo; Fourth Official: Abraham Domínguez Cervantes; Assistant VAR Official: José Luis Munuera Montero
Real Madrid Lineup: Lunin; Carvajal, Militão (subbed for Huijsen, 64’), Asencio, Fran García (subbed for Mendy, 79’); Valverde, Bellingham (subbed for Güler, 64’), Camavinga (subbed for Tchouaméni, 79’), Brahim (subbed for Gonzalo, 84’); Mbappé, Vinícius Júnior
Girona Lineup: Gazzaniga; Martínez, Francés, Vitor Reis, Moreno; Martín (subbed for Beltrán, 84’), Witsel; Tsygankov, Lemar (subbed for Rincón, 70’), Ounahi (subbed for Bryan Gil, 70’); Echeverri (subbed for Abel Ruiz, 64’ (subbed for Stuani, 84’))