April 11, (THEWILL) — Girona held Real Madrid to a 1-1 draw at the Bernabéu on Thursday, inflicting further damage on the home side’s LaLiga title prospects.
It was the second time this season that the 12th-placed visitors had denied Madrid all three points, repeating an earlier result that underlined the capital club’s inconsistency.
Federico Valverde gave the hosts the lead early in the second half, converting a long-range effort that the Girona goalkeeper Paulo Gazzaniga failed to deal with cleanly.
Jude Bellingham, making his first start since January, had also threatened before the interval, though his effort went wide at full stretch.
Thomas Lemar levelled for Girona in the 62nd minute, finding space on the edge of the area and firing a low shot through Eduardo Camavinga’s legs and past goalkeeper Andriy Lunin.
The former Atlético Madrid forward had been given too much room by Madrid’s defence, and the Bernabéu crowd made their displeasure clear.
Kylian Mbappé came close to a winner but shot straight at Gazzaniga from close range, and a subsequent penalty appeal was rejected.
Madrid were unable to find a late breakthrough, with Girona holding firm to claim a point that extended the home side’s poor run following back-to-back defeats against Mallorca and Bayern Munich.
The result leaves Barcelona with the opportunity to open a nine-point gap at the summit of the LaLiga standings.
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
