Girona vs Madrid: La Liga Draw at Montilivi

GironaWhat a night Montilivi lived, reconciled with the exploits of a Girona that stopped Mbappé’s Real Madrid with effort, talent and heart (1-1). Girona spent many minutes in front on the scoreboard, thanks to a goal from Ounahi, but Courtois’ saves and a mistake by Hugo Rincón, who took an avoidable penalty, prevented the three points from staying at home. Girona does not leave relegation, but Madrid loses the lead, now in the hands of Barça.

It was very intense, Girona, although it is true that it was the whites who commanded respect, but more because of the name and who they are, than because of what they did. Morally, Madrid has made very little progress since the summer, when Xabi Alonso promised football heaven and believed that his players would obey him as Bayer Leverkusen did. It will cost them to pay attention to him. The people of Girona are the opposite. If at the beginning of the year there was nowhere to take it, over the course of the days they straightened up. Against Madrid they played one of their best matches. Míchel is going through very difficult times on the bench.

But there wasn’t just any team in front, there was Madrid. The big danger was Mbappé, seeing him running makes the hair stand on end. The Frenchman is a beast who wins races even if he starts them five seconds late. The work of Arnau and Vitor Reis in the central axis was impeccable, as were the assists of Witsel and Iván Martín. Until they held their strength, without the ball, Girona were as fine as with it.

The way had been shown by Rayo Vallecano and Elche, the last two trips where Madrid had left points. But as with everything in life there is no single direction, the 4 out of 6 of the white-and-red against Alabès and Betis also served. The broth boiled and felt inevitable in a very distracted final stretch of the first half, after the clock had been running with some solo rambles from Güler, Vinícius and Mbappé, or collective plays from Ounahi, Bryan Gil, Vanat and company. The most interesting was one from Tsygankov, which almost led to Courtois’ error. The Belgian, at that moment, did not know that they would leave him mute.

But there is no story without intrigue and before that it would be Montilivi who held his breath at a shot from Militao well solved by Gazzaniga. There was also general anger, of course, when Mbappé scored a goal assisted with his hand and the referee gave it as valid as if nothing had happened. He had to be warned by the VAR to cancel it. In the second half, already with 1-0, he was more skilled in invalidating a shot from Vinícius, in offside.

The details did not harm Girona, who continued to maintain a very high rate of concentration and possession. It was then that Míchel’s plan bore fruit: the ball on the wing for Rincón, who, undemanding, gave it to Tsygankov so that he could leave it, more centered, for Ounahi, who stopped time with a whip to the box that left Cortouis still. Girona exploded with joy.

The orgasm does not come

How quickly happiness can go away in a team like Girona, who began to suffer when his legs gave out, following the duel hour. Of course, he had a few seconds of glory where he imagined himself reaching orgasm. It was Vanat, in an open field race, who stood alone in front of Courtois. It would have been 2-0, but the Belgian is a goalkeeper who adds up points. He held out his hand and everyone awoke from their sleep.

Then, Rincón sinned in the footbridge and stepped on Vinícius inside the area. He faced a lot of shots, the Brazilian, and the debutant in Primera only made a mistake once. Enough for it to be a penalty and Mbappé made it 1-1. There was a lot of time left, but it wasn’t looking so good for Míchel’s team. It would take them a long time.

And whether it was done to them. Vinícius had two chances, countered by Joel Roca, who made a great sprint to finish in the hands of Courtois. Mbappé also tried, stopped by Gazzaniga and his own uncertainty. It wouldn’t have been fair for white to win. Montilivi, scarves in the wind, celebrated the point as it hit.