Defending La Liga giants Real Madrid played out a 1-1 draw against Girona at the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.
Brazilian winger Vinicius Jr scored for the hosts while Uruguayan striker Cristhian Stuani was on the scoreboard for the visitors.
Coming into the match, Real Madrid suffered their first loss of the season against German club RB Leipzig. Carlo Ancelotti’s team wanted to return to winning ways. They were facing a Girona team that has lost four of its last six matches.
Real Madrid started with their typical 4-3-3. Belgian goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois played under the bar. Daniel Carvajal, Antonio Rudiger, David Alaba and Ferland Mendy played in defense for Real Madrid. Luka Modric, Eduardo Camavinga and Toni Kroos completed the midfield trio. Federico Valverde and Vinicius Junior started on the wings while Rodrygo was in charge of leading the lines.
Vinicius scores Real Madrid’s first goal
Host Real Madrid started the match on a positive note. They got their first chance of the match in the tenth minute when Brazilian striker Rodrygo saw his shot saved by Gazzaniga’a’s fingertips.
The visitors got their first real chance in the twentieth minute on a counterattack in which Arnau put a brilliant cross into the area to captain Valery. The Girona captain timed his run perfectly only to deflect his header.
Shortly after, Rodrygo’s first shot from inside the box hit the post. It was followed by a shot from Yangel Herrera that crashed into the Real Madrid crossbar. Despite many chances, both teams failed to score any goals and the first half ended 0-0.
Just after the half hour mark, the visitors had another great opportunity to get ahead of the game. But Girona captain Valery once again failed to convert the chance as Thibaut Courtois made a brilliant save.
Shortly after, Real Madrid scored the first goal of the match. Los Blancos midfielder Federico Valverde found the perfect move from Brazilian winger Vinicius Jr. at the far post. The Brazilian made no mistakes and beat Gazzaniga to take the lead.
La Real had a great opportunity to double their lead in two minutes, but Marco Asensio’s shot was well saved by Gazzaniga. Asensio was then guilty of conceding a penalty after touching the ball in the area. Uruguayan striker Cristhian Stuani stepped forward and scored the equalizer for the Catalan team.
After conceding a goal, Real Madrid put a lot of pressure on Girona and were about to get their reward. Brazilian striker Rodrygo put the ball in the back of the net. However, the goal was disallowed due to a foul by the Girona Gazzaniga goalkeeper.
Things got worse for Madrid when their German midfielder Toni Kross was shown a red card in the final minutes of the match. The match ended with a score of 1-1. After this tie, Real Madrid regained first position. They now have 32 points from 12 games.
