After suffering their first loss of the season in midweek, Real Madrid will return to league action this Sunday as they host struggling Girona.
Venue: Santiago Bernabeu (Madrid)
Key Statistics
Real Madrid are unbeaten in their last 14 league games (W11, D3).
The hosts are unbeaten in their last nine home games in the league (W7, D2).
They are the joint-top scorers in La Liga this season with 28 goals.
The hosts have kept two clean sheets in La Liga this season.
Girona are winless in their last six league games (D2, L4).
They have not kept a clean sheet in La Liga this season.
The visitors have a poor record against teams that start this round in the top half (D1, L4).
Head to head
Real Madrid have won four of the last six games between both sides. Girona have two wins.
Latest performances in all competitions
Real Madrid: L-W-W-W-D
Girona: D-L-D-L-L
Real Madrid
Real Madrid will play host to Girona as they go in search of what will be their eleventh win in the Spanish La Liga.
Los Blancos maintained their 100 percent record in La Liga when they defeated Sevilla last weekend. Luka Modric opened the scoring for the home side in the fifth minute but were unable to add a second despite their dominance in the first half. Sevilla found their equaliser nine minutes after the restart through Erik Lamela. But quick-fire goals from Lucas Vasquez and Federico Valverde ensured that Sevilla left Santiago Bernabeu without a point.
But the hosts saw their unbeaten run in all competitions since the start of the season halted by RB Leipzig in the Champions League on Wednesday. The absence of Luka Modric, Federico Valverde and Karim Benzema left a telling gap in Madrid’s setup, and the Spanish champions paid with a 3-2 loss to the Germans.
Carlo Ancelotti will be sweating on the fitness of the trio, who are all in contention to make a return for the game against Girona pending subsequent test and fitness drills to ascertain their match readiness.
Los Blancos come into this game in the first place, but with Barcelona just three points behind in second place, Carlo Ancelotti will be all too eager to see his side maintain a firm grip on the number-one spot as the World Cup rolls in on us. And following their first loss of the season to Leipzig, the Italian coach will be all the keener to see a quick response in the form of a dominant win from his team, when Girona come to town.
Possible Real Madrid starting line-up
Thibaut Courtois; Daniel Carvajal, Éder Militão, David Alaba, Ferland Mendy; Luka Modric, Aurelien Tchouameni, Toni Kroos; Marco Asensio, Rodrygo, Vinícius Júnior.
Injured: None
Doubtful: Karim Benzema, Dani Ceballos, Mariano Diaz, Federico Valverde
Suspended: None
Girona
Girona, on the other hand, look set to make a drop back to the Segunda División, one season after making it to the Spanish topflight.
Michael Muñoz has overseen his side picking up just two wins, three draws and six losses, to sit in 18th place in the La Liga standings.
Blanquivermells are winless in their last six games in all competitions and come into this game off the back of a 1-1 draw with Osasuna last weekend. David Lopes restored parity for Girona in the dying stages of the first half, after Kike Barja had given Osasuna the lead in the 38th minute.
Girona now face a daunting task as they come up against an inform Madrid side who are yet to taste defeat in La Liga this season.
However, the last time both teams met, Girona stunned Los Blancos when they came from behind to secure a 1-2 win at the Santiago Bernabeu back in 2019, with Cristian Portu grabbing the decisive goal. With both teams having undergone significant changes in recent years, the odds weigh heavily against Michael Muñoz’s team. But the Spanish coach will nonetheless urge his team to take on the Spanish Champions like it were a final as they look to turn their season around.
Possible Girona starting line-up
Juan Carlos; Arnau Martínez, Santiago Bueno, Bernardo Espinosa, Miguel Gutiérrez, Aleix Garcia; Yangel Herrera, Oriol Romeu, Rodrigo Riquelme; V. Castellanos, Cristhian Stuani.
Injured: Borja Garcia, Ibrahima Kebe
Doubtful: Juanpe
Suspended: None
Odds
Prediction
Real Madrid 3-1 Girona
