Real Madrid fade away in LaLiga title race following disappointing draw against Girona

[p]Donning a kit inspired by the 1991/92 campaign, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/girona/nNNpcUSL/"]Girona[/a] made a positive start to the opening game of LaLiga’s retro weekend, as [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/ounahi-azzedine/reDF5hxm/"]Azzedine Ounahi[/a] forced [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/lunin-andriy/0S7ye9jr/"]Andriy Lunin[/a] into a superb near-post stop inside the opening 15 minutes.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/real-madrid/W8mj7MDD/"]Real Madrid[/a], who decided against taking part in the celebration of all things nostalgia, attempted to stamp their authority on the contest with a couple of promising opportunities before the 30-minute mark.[/p][p][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/bellingham-jude/QNvlPm7s/"]Jude Bellingham[/a] poked the ball wide at full-stretch in his first start since January, shortly before [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/valverde-federico/nscfER6B/"]Federico Valverde[/a] saw his whipped shot swatted away by the alert [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/gazzaniga-paulo/jB3F3wGi/"]Paulo Gazzaniga[/a]. [/p][image alt="Match stats" id="32fb6c5b-80d0-4e54-ae52-9a0d2a84066e" credit-line="Opta by StatsPerform" guid="ee9536ea-4aff-4298-bdea-0fd9d5b36fbc" original-width="1080" original-height="1080" /][p]However, the Girona goalkeeper failed to cover himself in glory when Valverde wound up one of his long-range strikes in the opening stages of the second period.[/p][p][b]Gazzaniga made an unconventional attempt to keep out the Uruguayan’s swerving effort, which powered past the shot-stopper’s feeble defences to the delight of the majority of the 70,885 in attendance. [/b][/p][embed guid="c45af5be-ae46-42ac-8543-92f8d5179c00" url="https://x.com/LaLigaEN/status/2042699343317090522" social-type="twitter" /][p][b]Those fans were soon left frustrated by the failure to close down Lemar for Girona’s well-struck 62nd-minute equaliser. The Frenchman was given the time and space to let fly from the edge of the box, firing a low shot through [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/camavinga-eduardo/6ekYsPfO/"]Eduardo Camavinga[/a]’s legs and beyond the helpless Lunin.[/b][/p][embed guid="2d860fd5-6bcf-4ac7-a7dd-f9e2f91af3b8" url="https://x.com/LaLigaEN/status/2042703972067131681" social-type="twitter" /][p]Girona continued to carry the greater threat for a period after their leveller, with every attack generating a sea of whistles from a frustrated Bernabéu crowd that knew the consequences of more dropped points.[/p][p]The mood failed to improve when [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/mbappe-kylian/Wn6E2SED/"]Kylian Mbappé[/a] drilled a near-post shot straight at Gazzaniga in an attempt to find a late winner, just moments before he had a penalty appeal turned down.[/p][p]Álvaro Arbeloa’s charges ultimately ran out of time in their bid to snatch all three points, as they followed back-to-back defeats against [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/mallorca/4jDQxrbf/"]Mallorca[/a] and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/bayern-munich/nVp0wiqd/"]Bayern Munich[/a] with a score draw, knowing that [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/team/barcelona/SKbpVP5K/"]Barcelona[/a] now have the chance to move nine points clear in the title race. [/p][p][b]Flashscore Man of the Match: [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/lemar-thomas/jX8PENMO/"]Thomas Lemar[/a] ([a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/lemar-thomas/jX8PENMO/"]Girona[/a])[/b][/p][p][b][a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/game/soccer/girona-nNNpcUSL/real-madrid-W8mj7MDD/?mid=KES1xaf5"]Check out all the match stats here[/a][/b][/p]