Three talking points ahead of Girona vs Real Madrid | La Liga | OneFootball

The tests keep coming for Real Madrid. After a disappointing defeat to Atletico Madrid last weekend, the men in white took down Las Palmas at the Santiago Bernabeu to return to winning ways.

They now face their third game in seven days as they travel to Catalonia to take on Girona in a testing fixture. Real Madrid may be the favourites, but the game will be anything but easy for Los Blancos.

Carlo Ancelotti has several decisions to take on the night, especially given that his team face Napoli and Copa del Rey runners-up Osasuna in their next two games.

Madrid Universal brings you three talking points ahead of Girona vs. Real Madrid.

Clash of the table-toppers

Girona have been one of the revelations of the 2023/24 campaign. The Catalan club started the season with a draw against Real Sociedad at San Sebastian but have been unstoppable ever since.

Michel’s men went on to win all six of their games after the initial hiccup and currently sit atop the leaderboard with a stunning total of 19 points. What is more impressive is the fact that they have, alongside Barcelona, scored the most number of goals this season at 18.

Carlo Ancelotti’s men are not far behind in terms of results. With six wins and one loss so far, they sit in second place with 18 points. Saturday’s game, in all senses, will be a clash between two of Spain’s in-form and table-topping sides.

Playing at Estadi Motilivi will be no easy run for Real Madrid despite the big names in the squad. Debilitated by injuries, Ancelotti’s men face one of their toughest challenges tomorrow, especially accounting for their hectic schedule and compulsion to rotate.

A win tomorrow will assure Real Madrid the numero uno spot, but a defeat could potentially push them down to third. Needless to say, it will be a critical result from a leaderboard standpoint.

A team of multiple threats

Table toppers for a reason. (Photo by Eric Alonso/Getty Images)

While Girona’s feat of scoring 18 goals in seven games is remarkable, what makes it further staggering is the distribution of goalscorers.

Michel’s men have not depended on any single player to put the ball into the back of the net. In fact, one cannot even state with certainty that their forward line contributes the lion’s share of goals.

Midfielder Yangel Herrera is the team’s top scorer in La Liga with three goals to his name.  However, he is not the only midfielder to score for the team as Aleix Garcia, Viktor Tsygankov, Portu, and Ivan Martin all have a goal each to their names.

Michel’s side play with a unique 4-1-4-1 formation and do not hesitate to push forward in numbers. The second line of four provides them with sufficient bodies in attack and also partly explains why a significant number of their goals come from midfield.

Apart from the threat lurking from the players behind the forward, players like David Lopez, Yan Couto, and Eric Garcia have contributed to the scoresheet from the defence. Further, forwards like Savinho, Artem Dovbyk, and Cristhian Stuani require no introduction.

The pressure will be on Real Madrid’s defence on Saturday at Montilivi Stadium. With threats coming from all parts of the park, the Merengues must be alert and on their toes at all times against the league leaders.

And then there were two

Just as Real Madrid were celebrating the returns of Dani Ceballos, Ferland Mendy, and Dani Carvajal, matters have once again gone awry for Ancelotti’s men.

Real Madrid’s defence suffered its biggest and most significant blow early in the season when Eder Militao was diagnosed with an ACL tear. The Brazilian was thus slated as unavailable for the remainder of the campaign, pushing the responsibility on David Alaba and Antonio Rudiger’s shoulders.

The duo have not enjoyed the best of chemistries so far, with the defeat to Atletico Madrid serving as the prime example. Yet, Alaba and Rudiger pulled along well and oversaw seven wins for the team.

Los Blancos’ most recent game against Las Palmas brought with it more setbacks. Both Rudiger and Alaba suffered injuries on the night with the latter even coming off after his injury.

As it stands, the Austrian international will not be available for the clash against Girona. Rudiger, meanwhile, could feature tomorrow, with Ancelotti confirming his situation is not serious.

With just the German defender and Nacho Fernandez as the options remaining, Ancelotti is treading a tight-rope. Going up against arguably Spain’s most in-form team, the vulnerable defence could prove to be a liability.