Real Madrid 2-0 Girona: Match review | OneFootball

Real Madrid followed up Atletico Madrid’s and Barcelona’s wins on Saturday in La Liga with one of their own against Girona. They won 2-0 against the Catalan minnows at the Santiago Bernabeu to remain level with Barca on points in the league standings, although Hansi Flick’s side continues to hold the advantage owing to a superior goal difference as well as a stronger head-to-head record.

The match was fairly routine for the Whites, who were in control of proceedings right from the word go. Barring a chance for Donny van de Beek which Thibaut Courtois saved well, Girona did not trouble the Merengues much.

The victors, however, would probably go away with the feeling that the margin of the result might have been more lopsided after some wasted chances in front of goal.

The match got underway with Real Madrid dominating the wings through Brahim Diaz and Rodrygo Goes, whereas Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Junior played centrally, a lot closer to each other than usual.

Los Blancos were playing in a 4-2-4 when going forward, so there was a lot of momentum in their favour in the attacking third while without the ball, Brahim and Rodrygo put in good shifts to recover possession.

Real Madrid’s first goal of the afternoon came through Luka Modric in the first half. A headed clearance off his own team’s corner came to the Croatian, who set himself with a nice touch off his chest and fired a volley from range into the top right corner. It was one of the finest goals Modric has scored in his career and very possibly, the goal of the season so far in the league, simply for its pure technique.

Vinicius and Mbappe came close in the second half with the Brazilian hitting the crossbar, whereas the latter sublimely brought an inch-perfect long ball from Modric under his grasp but fired straight at the goalkeeper. The offensive duo would eventually combine on a chance created by the Real captain as Vini poked home from close range to double the lead in the 83rd minute and secure all three points.

Rodrygo had a decent chance to make it 3-0 after a solid dribble by Eduardo Camavinga but fluffed his lines from a foot or two away, as did Mbappe, who was played through after a brilliant run by Endrick.

In addition to an offensively strong performance, the defence also deserves credit as even without Antonio Rudiger and Federico Valverde starting, the team kept its first clean sheet after six matches in all competitions.

Next up, Real Madrid travel to the Reale Arena in San Sebastian to take on Real Sociedad in the first leg of the Copa del Rey semi-final, before continuing on the road in La Liga next weekend to take on Real Betis at the Benito Villamarin.