Real Madrid’s title aspiration has gone down the wind as they suffered a shock defeat at the hand of minnows Girona. The Catalans side are playing their first ever season in the Spanish top flight and have done decent damage to Los Blancos’ title defence.
Madrid took the lead through Isco, who was one of the better players on the pitch. But Girona didn’t lose hope and kept fighting and results eventually came as goals from Christian Stuani and Portu secured an unbelievable win for the home side.
It was supposed to be an easy fixture but Girona showed their intent from the first whistle of the game. This loss means Madrid stay third in the points table and remains eight points adrift of Barcelona who looked flawless so far.
Real Madrid Player ratings:
Kiko Casilla- 6
Was a bit sloppy in some patches of the game. Made a number of good saves to keep his side in the game.
Achraf Hakimi- 5
Definitely was not his day. The youngster was exploited heavily a number of times and his defensive lapses will be a concern for Zinedine Zidane.
Raphael Varane-7
If he was on the pitch for 90 minutes the result could have been different. The centre-back was one of the stand-out players and covered a large area of the pitch to plug the leaky holes.
Marcelo- 6
A rare off day for the Brazilian full-back
Sergio Ramos- 6
A below average performance from the Madrid captain. Ran like an aimless chicken and could have done better at the time of the second goal.
Toni Kroos- 6
Didn’t have a good game and struggled heavily to get the ball rolling form the middle of the pitch.
Luka Modric- the Croatian midfield maestro looked a bit exhausted. Girona were pressing with high lines and Modric failed to exploit the space.
Casemiro- 6
The Brazilian international left reeling with the high octane energy of the game and couldn’t deal with the pressure of Girona.
Isco- 7.5
Undoubtedly the best player on the pitches. He was all over the pitches and was brilliant as usual with his trickiest movement of the ball. Moved into the channels to create space which was hardly utilised.
Cristiano Ronaldo- 5
Another shambolic display from the FIFA player of the year.
Karim Benzema- 4
Barely touched the ball.
Substitutes
Marco Asensio- 5.5
Provided the much-needed width but it couldn’t break the deadlock.
Lucas Vazquez- 5.5
Tried his best to reduce the deficit.
Nacho Fernandez- 5
Varane’s absence was felt.
