La Liga: Can Los Blancos see off struggling Girona?

Real Madrid vs Girona

Second plays tenth at the Santiago Bernabeu on Sunday as La Liga title chasers Real Madrid take on out-of-form Girona.

Carlo Ancelotti’s men had a blockbuster clash with Manchester City on Wednesday and came through with flying colours and a 6-3 aggregate win, with the added bonus of dumping their biggest rivals out of the competition. But they have laboured in the league of late, without a win in three and the top of the La Liga table has become seriously congested with Barcelona, Real Madrid and Atletico all separated by a single point.

On Saturday the Blaugrana visit 17^th placed Las Palmas while Los Rojiblancos are away to 18^th placed Valencia so, by the time they kick off on Sunday the pressure on Ancelotti’s men may well have cranked up.       

Visitors Girona lost 2-1 at home to Getafe on Matchday 24, and so boss Michel has had a full week to prepare his team and, despite stuttering of late, they are only five points behind sixth placed Rayo Vallecano. It’s starting to get interesting in La Liga as we move into the run-in, with 14 games to go, and it will be hard to take our eyes of the Primera Division action this weekend.

And this is a great clash for SBOTOP La Liga fans to get stuck into; so let’s take a closer look at where the two clubs are right now.

 

Talking Points

Can Real Madrid build on cup success?  

Los Blancos’ Champions League clash with Manchester City was the big match of the week without doubt and, when the moment came, the men of Madrid stood up to a man. So they will come into this clash on the crest of a wave, but they need to find a way of transferring their cup form to the league. While seeing off the Sky Blues and also beating Leganes 3-2 in the Copa del Rey Ancelotti’s team have recently lost in the league to Espanyol and drawn with Atletico Madrid and Osasuna. Another defeat to a Catalonian opponent would be disastrous for Los Blancos and great for Barcelona and Atleti.

The good news for Ancelotti is that summer signing Kylian Mbappe seems to have settled and is improving week on week, with 17 goals in the league and a Champions League hat-trick against Manchester City. The bad news is that Jude Bellingham will be out as he was red carded during the recent draw with Osasuna.       

 

Stuani backs referees to do their job

Much of the recent La Liga 2025 news has concentrated on refereeing performances and Real Madrid have been at the centre of it, mocked by Atletico over their constant efforts to influence the officials using their official club TV channel. They also complained vociferously following the defeat to Espanyol but seemingly with little effect, as Jude Bellingham was sent off for haranguing the referee during the draw with Osasuna. Girona’s experienced captain Cristhian Stuani has weighed into the discussion this week, giving his backing to the officials, saying: “You have to let them work. Lately they are exposed to a lot of pressure. The referees can make mistakes. We can’t pressure them because it seems we look more at that than at the beauty of football. We are going to dedicate ourselves to playing and let them do their job.”

So Stuani has taken the high moral ground and now he needs to lead his team to better outcomes on the pitch. They capitulated in a 3-0 defeat to Athletic Bilbao and then had their own disciplinary problems last week when midfielder Yangel Herrera was sent off during the loss to Getafe.  

Apart from the loss to Bilbao, Girona have been competitive in all their recent games, losing by the odd goal to both Arsenal and AC Milan in the Champions League, and Michel’s task is to make sure the fine margins start to go their way again.                    

 

History

Girona have had some success in their tussles with Los Blancos since they reached the big time, winning three and drawing one of their ten meetings. But when the two teams met in Catalonia Ancelotti’s men coasted to a 3-0 win, and last season Los Blancos thrashed Girona 4-0 at the Santiago Bernabeu as Bellingham scored a brace.    

Recent form favours the hosts who have won three, drawn two and lost one of their last six games, while their visitors have won one and lost five of their last six; though Madrid’s three wins were cup matches of course. But Real Madrid have won nine, drawn one and lost one of their home league games.

So where does all that leave the Real Madrid vs Girona betting odds?

 

Betting Tip

Well, it’s no surprise to see Ancelotti’s men at odds of 1.27 to take all three points with the draw at 5.12 and Girona at 7.14. But Los Blancos had a draining tie against Manchester City on Wednesday and this is by no means an easy fixture. Each of Girona’s last five games have yielded two or three goals; so that’s where I’m heading for this clash.

   

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