7 December 2024
Laliga
Score. 3 – 0
Stadium: Estadi Municipal de Montilivi
First Half Game Analysis
Real Madrid was playing 4-4-2 formation in this game. Mbappe and Guler as forwards. In defense were Lucas, Tchouameni, Rudiger, and Mendy. Tchouameni was put in the defence team. Modric in the starting 11 and also was the captain of the team.
Girona had good control over the ball in the first 5 minutes of the game. They had the ball thrice inside the box, once they did not get it, the second time, the players fumbled, or those chances could have been dangerous for Madrid.
In the 11th minute, Girona took a goal shot from the left side of the box, the ball was partly blocked by the foot of Modric for an out ball. So far Girona was playing pretty well and pressing forward into the Madrid box quite often.
In the 13th minute, Girona had a corner kick. The corner kick was deflected, and found by a Girona player who took the goal shot but was away from the goalpost for an out ball.
A minute later, Bellingham threw the ball for Mbappe and he was inside the box and just about to get the ball, a defender first happened to touch the ball and the ball rolled away towards the other Girona player. It was a fantastic and the first opportunity for a goal for Mbappe if he could touch the ball first instead of a Girona defender. It was a goal-saving challenge by a Girona defender and a missed opportunity for Real Madrid.
In the 21st of the game, Girona built up an attack around the Madrid box and they found a good cross pass from the right side of the box, but a Girona attacking player just missed to touch the ball. He just needed to touch that cross ball as the ball was too close to the box and it was not possible for Courtois to stop that goal at all. It was a very close goal miss for Girona.
Girona did have again another goal shot in the 23rd minute of the game, again the ball flew too high above the bar for an out ball. Girona was having constant attack at the goalpost of Madrid while, so far in the game, Girona goalpost was quiet and the keeper had a rest, I was sure! Girona had 4 shots at the goalpost, while Madrid had just 1.
In the 30th minute of the game, Girona built up an attack at the Madrid box and had a solid shot at the box from the right side of the box, but the ball did not find the net, rather flew above the bar and went out. It was a good built up by Girona that Madrid defenders could not stop.
The first shot on target came in the 34th minute of the game for Real Madrid. It was the first save of the game for Girona goalkeeper too. It was Brahim who shot the ball from just outside of the box and the keeper did block the ball. It was a good attempt, set up by Bellingham. Bellingham was the player who was working the hardest as we could see him running every where from midfield to forward positions.
Mbappe could have one weak low shot at the target a minute later, but the ball was easily caught by the keeper. Mbappe is uncomfortable and cannot dribble well in close situations, so he keeps losing balls in such situations. His best action is in open positions where he runs fast, dribbles past defenders, and shoots the ball powerfully so that goalkeepers can not block or punch away as the ball is too fast and strong.
In the 36th minute, at last all the hard work of Bellingham surfaced as he scored the 1st goal for his team. It was Brahim who took the ball inside the box on the left and he instead of taking a shot, passed the ball toward the center, but the ball was received by a Girona defender and his cleared ball landed at Bellingham. Bellingham took his goal shot which found the back of the net of Girona’s goalpost. The ball found its home right through the feet of Girona’s goalkeeper.
Bellingham scores
So far in the game, Girona was defending quite well and deep, but finally, Madrid found their target through Bellingham.
Mbappe had been not much seen and nor his contribution much in the game. But he got one chance at the 41st minute. He received the ball on the left flank inside the box, and he took a goal shot too, but it was well blocked by the keeper. Anyway he was seen offside by inches, so the goal would have made no difference.
Now these are the two major flaws seen in Mbappe again and again in Madrid games recently. He is offside most of the time, and secondly, his maximum goals shots are blocked by the keeper. He is shooting straight to the keeper, instead of dozing or sending sideways, so the ball can find the back of the net, not the goalkeeper. Because of his these two flaws, Real Madrid lost a couple of games in Champions’ league as well as in Laliga.
In the 45th minute, Girona got a corner kick, but it could not be utilized. Girona had been keeping the game quite intense, also creating good chances, but only they had not been able to score goals so far in the game.
One minute added time for this first half game.
In the first half of the game, Girona created more chances of goal-scoring, though they failed to do so. They created attacks, had good control of the ball, players were fast and fluid, good defense work as well. Madrid on the other hand, lacking creative attacks at the opposition post, recovery of the ball was poor, players seemed sluggish in comparison to Girona players.
Madrid need not depend only on Mbappe to score goals, other players and whoever get the opportunity must manipulate the situation and convert into goals. Bellingham’s goal was a fluke, but a team like Madrid should create goals out of the game and win the match, and that is what makes a team great ultimately.
Second-Half-Game Analysis
Giron got a free kick on the left side of the Madrid box for a foul by Vazquez. The free kick was not of any benefit to Girona, instead there was a counterattack by Madrid. The cleared ball crossed the midfield and Mbappe chased in a high speed with a Girona defender one to one. Mbappe won the ball by nudging with his hand and he was one-to-one with the goalkeeper, he just threw the ball out as he was aware of his handball foul.
Once again I would say that this was a silly of Mbappe to use his hand to gain the ball. It was the best chance for him to score a goal so far, and he should have tried to gain the ball fairly and scored a goal for the team. In my opinion, he could have used his head to gain the ball. Such stupid tactics are ruining his game and also leading the defeat of the team in big matches. Thank he did not get a card for this stupid action, otherwise, he would had a red card as he had one yellow earlier already.
In the 51st minute, there was a foul on Mbappe in the midfield of Girona and a free kick was awarded. Modric took the free kick, and it was a good one. Tchouameni got to head the ball without any hindrances, but the keeper well blocked the ball, and he denied Madrid their second goal opportunity. Tchouameny only could not send the ball a bit away from the keeper, or it could have found the goalpost net easily as he was so close to the post.
jTchouameni free heading blocked
In the 55th minute, Brahim threw the ball a way ahead of the Girona defenders and Mbappe had a good run after the ball. It looked like a solid opportunity for Mbappe to score a goal, but the Girona keeper happened to get the ball ahead of Mbappe, and thus the opportunity was again lost for Mbappe. It was a beautiful ball meant for Mbappe by Brahim. This is the kind of ball Mbappe needs to convert them into goals.
Seconds later, there was a surprise goal from nowhere the second goal for Madrid scored by Guler. Modric threw the ball to Bellingham, and Bellingham very cleverly passed the ball to Guler. Guler ran with the ball foiling the 3 defenders’ attempts to block him and shot a precise ball toward the right pole so the keeper could not reach it. A superb move and a superior clinical finishing by Guler. This was a massive surprise for everyone I am sure.
Guler’s superb goal
Ceballos mispassed the ball in his own half near the box area and that led to a dangerous charge by Girona foward, but the shot was well blocked by Courtois. This was the first real save for Courtois in the second half game.
Immediately followed by this attack, Modric passed a very good ball to Mbappe on the right flank. Mbappe once he got the ball, ran with it in his usual speed on the right flank and took his powerful shot at the post. Though the gap was narrow, the speed of the ball was so high, that the keeper’s hand could not stop it and the ball touched the back of the net of Girona’s post 3rd time in the evening. This was Mbappe-like goal with the ball with speed and accuracy into the goal.
In the second half, Real Madrid had been playing a better game with good ball control, creating opportunities, and denying chances to the opposition team. The kind of sharp passes that Madrid had for creating chances, that sort of passes are dangerous and provide opportunities for forward players to score goal. So I must say that the whole team’s focus should be to provide good ball to the forwards so that goal-scoring chances increases.
Until 65 minutes of the game, Madrid had 6 shots on target, while Girona had just 1. This showed that in this game Real Madrid did perform better and deserved to win the game.
In the 71st minute, Girona led an attack at the Madrid goalpost from the left flank and had a good shot too. But Courtois had no difficulty in grabbing the ball in his hands safely.
Mbappe had another chance for a goal in the 74th minute with a pass from Modric. Once again it was on the right flank that Mbappe led the attack, his shot was well blocked by Girona’s keeper this time. I think Mbappe relies on the speed of the ball, but at the same time, he also must aim the ball away from the keeper, so the ball can get into the post.
Rudiger tried his best in the 78th minute by taking the ball solo on the left flank and into the box and gave a good cross into the center. But there was no one to pick up the ball and the attept went wasted.
A Giron player built up well from the right flank and getting inside the box, he took a good shot. The ball was well blocked by alert Courtois and the ball went for out ball and a corner for Girona. It was a good try and looked so easy to build up.
In the 80th minute, Mendy got hurt and he was replaced by Fran Garcia. Also, Mbappe and Valverde were too substituted by Endrick and Asencio respectively.
The ball possession was 51% for Real Madrid and 49% for Girona. Madrid played a much better game in the second half and created constant threat to the opposition goalpost.
Endrick got his golden chance for a goal in the 84th minute. Brahim threw the ball for him on the left flank, and he ran with the ball. But as he entered the box, he slightly took the ball a bit ahead where a defender slid in between and
Endrick missed the chance to shoot the ball into the post. It was a good and fast build up though.
Bellingham was the man of the match. He is the one who was seen working hard, covering all the ground and creating chances too. He is a super responsible player in the ground in the Madrid team. Mbappe showed some of his talent in this game and he needs to keep flashing these talents in all games. I hope he is getting his place and the game to know in this team and gets better in future.
Injuries are still common among the Madrid players. Bellingham and Mendy had to be taken out of the game for this reason. Endrick too was hurt in the neck and head because of the serious collision with the Girona goalkeeper, though he continued for a few minutes of the game as it was coming to an end.
In this game, Madrid players created many chances out of nowhere at times. This is creativity in the game, and that is extremely important. Good and creative passes are needed more and more toward the forwards, so the chances of scoring goals increase and so the winning chance of the game. Overall, the team played well in this match.
Statistics
Real Madrid Girona
58% Ball Possession 42%
3 Goals 0
10 Total Shots 10
7 Shots on target 4
3 Corners 6
7 Fouls committed 6
673 Total passes 469
2 Yellow cards 3