Real Madrid and Girona drew 1-1 at the Bernabeu in the 31st round of La Liga, repeating the result recorded in the round of this championship edition. Federico Valverde opened the scoring in the second half, when the Uruguayan footballer sent an unstoppable “torpedo” from long range, but the precision of the shot sent by Thomas Lemar decided the final result in the Spanish capital. As a result of this draw, the “galactic” group remains behind Barcelona, ​​reaching the third match in a row without success, while the Catalans maintained their current position in the hierarchy.

Real Madrid faced this game, after losing to Bayern Muncich, in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League and, before that game in the continental competition, ”los blancos” were defeated by Real Mallorca, in the Balearic Islands, the decisive goal of that match being scored in the 90th minute. In the general standings, prior to this stage of the domestic competition, the “los blancos” club occupied the second place, being seven points behind Barcelona, ​​while the Catalan team was in the 12th position, around the middle of the current hierarchy.

The group trained by Michel had obtained, before the trip that was made to the capital of Spain, two victories, two defeats and a draw in the most recent five duels played on all “fronts”, however, the most recent triumph recorded by the team on the “Estadio Motilivi”, away, the date of January of this year, when the Catalan group would win a local derby that was played in the company of those from Espanyol. Alvaro Arbeloa could not count on the services of Thibaut Courtois, Franco Mastantuono and Rodrygo for this match, and Alvaro Carreras, Antonio Rudiger and Trent Alexander-Arnold were rested by the Spanish coach in view of the match against Bayern Munich.

Michel called up the small squad for this match without having no less than seven players available, as a result of injuries suffered by them. In the round duel that was played in the current edition of the Spanish championship, the two teams would end in a draw, in a match in which the Catalans would open the score, and the goal scored from the penalty spot by Kylian Mbappe would determine the final score of the match. However, in the last duel that took place at the “Bernabeu” between the two teams, Real Madrid would prevail by two goals, with Luka Modric and Vinicius Junior scoring for the hosts.

This round of La Liga meant the organization of a special campaign that consisted of wearing retro equipment by the troops of the Spanish championship, respectively, by the referees who led these games, plus the choice of a special ball for this occasion. Between 6.5 – 7.5 million dollars represented the financial gain for the internal competition, as a result of the start of this project, Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, ​​Rayo Vallecano and Getafe being the four clubs that refused to participate in the unique initiative, up to this point, at the level of the elite championships on the European level.

The first dangerous chance in this match belonged to the hosts, when the long pass sent by Dani Carvajal had Kylian Mbappe as the recipient, but the French player of the “galactic” group did not reach the ball in time, so Vitor Reis intervened promptly. The Paris Saint-Germain forward was then passed to the far post by Jude Bellingham, but his sliding shot was blocked by Alejandro Frances in front of the goal. Azzedine Ounahi wasted a huge opportunity to open the scoring in the 14th minute of the match when, after dribbling inside, he shot into the near post, but Andriy Lunin blocked it with a brilliant reflex save.

Brahim Diaz fired a shot into the mouth of Paulo Gazzaniga’s goal a few minutes later, and Jude Bellingham’s deflection went inches wide of the Catalans’ goal. Alejandro Frances “took his heart in his teeth” halfway through the first act of this match and decided to shoot from long range, but the ball launched by the Girona centre-back narrowly missed the ”los blancos” goal. Federico Valverde came close to opening the scoring for Alvaro Arbeloa’s side, but the Uruguayan’s long-range shot, following a pass from Dani Carvajal, was saved for a corner by the visitors’ Argentine goalkeeper.

Towards the end of the first half of the match, Claudio Echeverri received a pass inside the penalty area from Thomas Lemar and, after a short, successful dribble, shot wide of the goal defended by Andriy Lunin. Jude Bellingham missed a great chance early in the second half when he received a pass from Brahim Diaz, but his right-footed finish on the ground did not trouble Paulo Gazzaniga. The scoreboard was unblocked following a generic execution by the registered trademark “Federico Valverde”, whose shot from about 20 meters beat the visitors’ goalkeeper, the Girona goalkeeper letting the ball slip through his fingers.

Vinicius Junior fired a shot from the edge of the box from a low cross from Jude Bellingham, but Paulo Gazzaniga blocked the Brazilian’s attempt to score. The equalizer came in the 61st minute, when Thomas Lemar punished Real Madrid from the edge of the penalty area for the space he had to finish, and his shot, sent to the corner, shook the net of the “galactic” team. Kylian Mbappe had the chance to score his team’s second goal in this duel, but after easily beating a defender from the visitors, the Frenchman’s shot was saved by the Catalan goalkeeper.

As a result of this draw recorded at the “Bernabeu”, Real Madrid remains in second place in La Liga, seven lengths behind Barcelona, ​​having played an extra match against the Catalan rival, while the team trained by Michel remained on the same level, 12th, and, in the next round, the team from the “Estadio Motilivi” will play in front of their own fans against Real Betis. The “galactic” group is preparing for the UEFA Champions League duel that will be played in the company of Bayern Munich, so that, later, Deportivo Alaves will travel to the stadium in the Spanish capital.