Another setback for Real Madrid against Girona and their Moroccan star

Real Madrid’s struggles continued as they fell into a 1–1 draw away to Girona, rescued only by a second-half penalty scored by French star Kylian Mbappé, which cancelled out a first-half opener from Moroccan midfielder Azzedine Ounahi.

With this result, Real Madrid remained winless in La Liga for the third straight match, dropping to second place in the standings with 33 points — one behind Barcelona — after drawing their previous two games against Rayo Vallecano and Elche.

There is no doubt the battle at the top has intensified, with Villarreal sitting third on 32 points, one ahead of Atlético Madrid. Only three points now separate the top four teams in the table.

Key moments of the match

Real Madrid controlled large stretches of the match but lacked the final touch around Girona’s penalty area, failing to create major danger in the first half despite solid saves from Argentine goalkeeper Paulo Gazzaniga against efforts by Brazilians Éder Militão and Vinícius Júnior.

Girona, relying on defensive solidity, frustrated the visitors and looked dangerous on the counterattack. They opened the scoring just before halftime — only two minutes after a Mbappé goal for Real had been disallowed for handball following VAR review. 

The opener came when Ukrainian winger Viktor Tsyhankov led a quick break down the right and sent a low cross toward Ounahi, who fired a powerful shot from inside the box into the top corner, leaving Belgian goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois with no chance.

Girona nearly doubled their lead in the 56th minute when Iván Martín released Ukrainian forward Vladyslav Vanat through on goal, but Courtois made a brilliant one-on-one save.

Real Madrid’s pressure finally paid off in the 67th minute when Vinícius Júnior burst down the left and won a penalty after being brought down inside the box. Mbappé stepped up and calmly struck the spot-kick into the left corner, out of Gazzaniga’s reach.

Madrid pushed hard for a winner, but Gazzaniga denied several efforts from Vinícius Júnior and Mbappé, while Courtois also had to react quickly at the other end to stop Joel Roca after a Girona counterattack.

Real players appealed for another penalty in the 80th minute when substitute Rodrygo appeared to be tripped inside the box by Roca, but the referee waved play on.

Mbappé then squandered a golden chance in stoppage time, firing narrowly wide from inside the penalty area.