Real Madrid vs Girona: Match preview | OneFootball

Three days after another magical Champions League night at the Santiago Bernabeu, Real Madrid are back in action on home soil as they take on Girona on matchday 25 of La Liga on Sunday, February 23rd. With only one point separating the teams ranked from first to third in the table, there is little room for error in the title race, especially with the Whites having gone winless in their last three league outings.

The challenge against Girona is one which Los Blancos have passed with flying colours as far as recent memory suggests, with a 10-0 head-to-head record in their favour keeping the last three meetings in mind. Earlier this season, Madrid won 3-0 at Montilivi in December, thanks to Jude Bellingham, Arda Guler and Kylian Mbappe, and will look to repeat their exploits in front of goal this time around.

Carlo Ancelotti will be without one of his most crucial players in Jude Bellingham after the Englishman received a red card against Osasuna last weekend. With the club’s appeal for the controversial refereeing decision rejected, Bellingham will be out for two matches. Elsewhere on the pitch, there are no injuries or suspensions, barring the long-term absences of Dani Carvajal and Eder Militao due to ACL ruptures.

Kylian Mbappe is in particularly imperious form for the hosts this season, not least in the ongoing calendar year. His hat-trick against Manchester City in the midweek Champions League match was the 26-year-old’s sixth goal in his previous four outings.

He will undoubtedly be the biggest threat for Girona, alongside Vinicius Junior, who put in one of his best ever displays when the two teams met at the Bernabeu last season.

Girona come into the match placed 11th in the league standings and are not enjoying the form which put them into the title race last season. Apart from languishing in the bottom half of La Liga, they have also been defeated in four of their last five matches in all competitions. Yangel Herrera is suspended for the visitors, who are also likely to be without Abel Ruiz and Arnaut Danjuma owing to fitness issues.

Cristhian Stuani will be the Catalan outfit’s danger man with four goals to his name this season. He is among their most experienced players and has scored a handful of goals against Real Madrid, so it goes without saying that Girona will hope for him to be at their best to take anything away from the match, especially with Danjuma, one of their most creative men absent.

The referee for Sunday’s meeting is Guillermo Cuadra Fernandez. Off the back of some serious controversies by the men in the middle in La Liga over recent weeks, he will also be severely scrutinised though the Merengues will rightly hope that they are not left to be hard done by the decision-making once more, as they were on each of their three previous occasions in the Spanish top flight.

By the time they get the ball rolling on Sunday, Real Madrid would be the chasing pack behind Atletico Madrid and Barcelona, with both of them having played and won on Saturday.

Thus, it will be imperative to win and it will be interesting to see whether Los Merengues are able to replicate their midweek dominance from the Champions League.