It has been a mixed season for the 33 times La Liga champions Real Madrid in their pursuit of glory in the coveted domestic competition. With the title almost lost to their arch-rivals Barcelona for the present term, the Galacticos took on Girona FC in their 29th match of the campaign at Santiago Bernabeu, with the expectation to get a win and consolidate their place amongst the top four.
Cristiano Ronaldo once again showed that he is back in form as he added to his tally from a perfectly delivered pass from Toni Kroos in the 11th minute to put the defending champions in the lead. However, the celebration for Los Blancos was shortlived as a resurgent Girona side scored via Cristhian Stuani in the 29th minute and were back on level terms.
The Portuguese superstar continued to show why he is inevitable for the 12 time European champions as he once again found the back of the net with a lob over the advancing goalkeeper in the 48th minute and made the score 2-1 in favour of the Galacticos. The provider this time was Karim Benzema, threading a beautiful ball past two defenders into the path of Ronaldo to grab his second of the night.
Lucas Vazquez scored his first of the night and thus made it 3-1 in favour of Real Madrid. Ronaldo was unselfish enough to put the ball in the way of his Spanish teammate from very much a scoring position as he obliged, finding the bottom corner of the net.
It was a complete conundrum in the Girona defence as the Galacticos grabbed another goal minutes later with Ronaldo completing his hattrick, pouncing onto the loose ball, deflected by the goalkeeper Bono from a well-taken attempt from Benzema.
Girona pulled back one in the 67th minute through Stuani and another in the 88th minute via Juanpe but it was too little too late for them to get the better of their opponents as the two Real Madrid substitutes, Gareth Bale and Luka Modric, combined to hit a fifth for their side and put their seal firmly on the match. Ronaldo added the cherry on the top of an emphatic performance with a goal in the 91st minute, completing a 6-3 routing of Girona.
This win takes Zinedine Zidane’s side to the third spot in the La Liga table with them trailing Atletico Madrid by 4 points. With the hopes of retaining their title for the season already lost, Real will look to leapfrog their city rivals in the race to the second place but they will need to mend their vulnerable areas in order to do so.
Here are the Real Madrid player ratings for the match.
Keylor Navas: 6/10
Not the best of nights for the shot-stopper, as he found it difficult to keep his opponents at bay.
Dani Carvajal: 5/10
Struggled against Stuani throughout the match and picked up a yellow card to miss the next one.
Raphael Varane: 6/10
Did well to keep out the opposition players as much as possible but was not well supported by Nacho.
Nacho: 4/10
Disastrous performance on the night. Never looked like the right man to replace Ramos.
Marcelo: 5/10
Well appreciated attacking intent but vulnerable on the counter. Needs to work on his defending.
Marco Asensio: 6/10
Looked far from his best except a few darting runs into the attacking third.
Toni Kroos: 8/10
Possibly the best midfielder in the world right now, the German ace made it look easy once again with his brilliant ball control and superb distribution on the night.
Mateo Kovacic: 7/10
Complemented Kroos well in the middle of the pitch in absence of Modric.
Lucas Vazquez: 8/10
Looked dangerous whenever on the ball. Deserves regular outings.
Karim Benzema: 7/10
Complemented Ronaldo well as his strike partner. Was not able to get his name on the scoresheet but had a good night nevertheless.
Cristiano Ronaldo: 10/10
4 goals on the night, total 22 this season for the Talisman in the La Liga. Enough said I guess!
Substitutes
Gareth Bale: 8/10
Looked lively. Made good runs into the final third and got a goal for his hard work.
Luka Modric: 7/10
Good to see him getting back to full fitness. Played some brilliant passes in the limited time he spent on the pitch.
