Girona rediscover their winning ways and deny Real Madrid the lead

GironaWhat a night Montilivi witnessed, reconciled with the feats of a Girona side that held Mbappé's Real Madrid to a draw with effort, talent, and heart (1-1). Girona led for much of the match thanks to a goal from Ounahi, but Courtois' saves and a mistake by Hugo Rincón, who conceded an avoidable penalty, prevented the three points from staying at home. Girona remains in the relegation zone, but Madrid loses the lead, now held by Barça.

Girona played with great intensity, although it's true that Real Madrid commanded respect, but more because of their reputation and who they are than their performance. As a team, Madrid has made very little progress since the summer, when Xabi Alonso promised footballing heaven and believed his players would obey him like those at Bayer Leverkusen. It will be difficult to get them to listen. Girona are the opposite case. If at the beginning of the season they were a lost cause, as the weeks have gone by they've turned things around. Against Real Madrid they played one of their best matches. Míchel is overcoming some very difficult times on the bench.

But they weren't facing just any team, it was Real Madrid. The biggest danger was Mbappé, whose running is breathtaking. The Frenchman is a beast who wins races even if he starts five seconds late. The work of Arnau and Vitor Reis in the center of defense was impeccable, as were the contributions of Witsel and Iván Martín. Until their energy ran out, without the ball, Girona were just as sharp as they were with it.

The path had been shown by Rayo Vallecano and Elche, the last two away matches where Real Madrid had dropped points. But as with everything in life, there's no single direction, and the 4 out of 6 points for Atlético Madrid against Alavés and Betis also counted. The tension was building, and it felt inevitable in a very distracted final stretch of the first half, after the clock had ticked by with some solo bursts from Güler, Vinícius, and Mbappé, or collective plays from Ounahi, Bryan Gil, Vanat, and company. The most interesting chance was one from Tsygankov, which almost forced a mistake from Courtois. The Belgian, at that moment, was unaware that he would be silenced.

But there's no story without intrigue, and earlier it was Montilivi who held their breath as a shot from Militao was well saved by Gazzaniga. There was also general anger, of course, when Mbappé scored a goal with his hand and the referee allowed it as if nothing had happened. VAR had to intervene to disallow it. In the second half, with the score at 1-0, he was more astute in disallowing a shot from Vinícius for offside. The details didn't affect Girona, who continued to maintain a very high level of concentration and possession. It was then that Míchel's plan paid off: Rincón played the ball out wide and, untroubled, passed it to Tsygankov, who laid it off more centrally for Ounahi. Ounahi stopped time with a thunderous shot into the top corner, leaving Courtois rooted to the spot. Girona erupted in joy. The orgasm didn't arrive

How quickly happiness can vanish for a team like Girona, who began to suffer when their legs gave out, around the hour mark. They did, however, have a few seconds of glory where they imagined themselves reaching a fever pitch. It was Vanat, on a run across open space, who found himself one-on-one with Courtois. It would have been 2-0, but the Belgian is a goalkeeper who earns points. He made a save, and everyone woke up from their dream.

Then, Rincón made a naive mistake and stepped on Vinícius inside the area. The Brazilian confronted him with a barrage of tackles, and the La Liga debutant only made one error. Enough for a penalty, which Mbappé converted to make it 1-1. There was still plenty of time left, but things weren't looking so good for Míchel's men. It was going to be a long haul.

And it certainly was. Vinícius had two chances, both thwarted by Joel Roca, who made a magnificent sprint only to be denied by Courtois. Mbappé also tried his luck, stopped by Gazzaniga and his own poor finishing. It wouldn't have been fair for Real Madrid to win. Montilivi, scarves waving in the wind, celebrated the point in style.