Viktor Tsygankov, Getty Images 01 December 2025, 00:03

Eh, as if only recently the match of Catalan Girona at Montiliva against Real Madrid was perceived as something related to the championship race in the Spanish La Liga. But now such times have come in the life of Michel’s team that God is with him, with these “creamy”, they did not get anywhere from the same race, but the “red and white” are now leading another race – for survival in the basement of the tournament table.

And given what we saw earlier in the performance of Girona at the start of this season, it would seem that Xabi Alonso’s team is simply doomed to success in this confrontation. But football doesn’t know anything about your pre-determined destinies, so Real Madrid ended up suffering in a relatively small town in the Catalan region.

The game started with the actions of the players of Alonso’s team in front. And immediately the guests had every chance to open the score. But Mbappe didn’t use Vanat’s delivery near his own free-kick, and Güler and Chuameni also launched their mid-range shots past the goal. Michel’s team responded to all this diversity with their own long-range shot through the efforts of Tsygankov right in the middle of the opening half of the meeting.

And since then, in fact, it was difficult to keep Girona near their own penalty area. Because at the first good opportunity, and there weren’t that many of them, they were just used as effectively as possible, the home team flew to counterattacks. And at the moment when Mbappe’s goal was not scored due to a handball in the goalkeeper’s position in the 40th minute, it happened that just as the referee gave permission to play on, Girona found themselves near the penalty area, and a vertical transition through the legs of Rincon and Tsygankov delivered the ball to Unahi’s shot under the crossbar from the center of the penalty area.

And this is a completely different picture of the game in the second half, because in the first, Real Madrid did not have time to recover – the Madrid team conceded in the 45th minute. And the rest of football will be interrupted, too, respectively. Because Girona still tried to counter-attack at first, thus creating a real opportunity to score for Vanat in the 57th minute, when Vladyslav could not beat Courtois with a low kick from the right wing of the penalty area.

However, Real Madrid found ways to win this match. Helped by Rincon’s foul on Vinicius on the right wing of the penalty box in the 65th minute, Mbappe went to take the penalty again, this time scoring with a trademark pointed shot into the bottom left corner.

After that, Madrid obviously had no desire to stop, because they had no intention of giving points to an outsider just like that. But it still had to be done, because Girona, sometimes on the verge of a clear miracle, managed to defend a draw in this game. And Mbappe’s super moment in the last seconds, when he in the center of the penalty area just missed the free right corner of the opponent’s goal, it became clear that fate did thank Michel’s team for their courage this evening.

Catalan side Girona travel to Elche in the next round, while away to Ouernsa in the Copa del Rey in midweek, while Real Madrid travel to Basque side Athletic in the next few days before hosting Celta Vigo at the weekend.

Girona – Real 1:1
Goals: Unahi, 45 — Mbappe, 67 (pen.)

Girona: Gassaniga — Rincon (Frances, 72), Martinez, Reyes, Moreno — Tsygankov (Asprilha, 72), Unahi (Ruiz, 83), Witsel, I. Martin, Gil (Rocca, 72) — Vanat (Lass, 83).

Real: Courtois — Alexander-Arnold (G. Gonzalo, 90), Militao, Rudiger, F. Garcia (Carreras, 90) — Valverde, Chuameni (Rodrigo, 72), Bellingham — Guler (Kamavinga, 46), Mbappe, Vinicius.

Warning: Gassaniga, Unahi, Vanat