Real Madrid defeated Girona 2-0 on Sunday, putting them back on top of La Liga, with Luka Modric scoring a brilliant goal from long range, to claim a victory.
Carlo Ancelotti’s team put together a strong performance at the Santiago Bernabeu, and Vinicius Junior came out on top late in the game.
After rivals Barcelona and Atletico Madrid, now third, both won on Saturday, the pressure was on for the champions in the extremely tight title race.
Madrid had not yet won any of their previous three league games, but they showed their muscles by defeating Man City in the Champions League in midweek.
“It’s a very important win, we have to stay in the fight”, Modric told Real Madrid TV.
“We can’t let our level slip and consider ourselves satisfied, we can still grow as a team”.
The Croatian’s goal was the highlight of the match.
“I was by myself, I controlled the ball, I hit it well and it went in”, Modric added.
“I don’t know if it’s one of the most spectacular I’ve scored, it was really nice, it’s always special to score at the Bernabeu”.
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After seeing Jude Bellingham red last weekend, he was suspended for England.
Madrid’s surprise title rivals from last year’s competition were difficult to defeat but less dangerous in attack than at their best.
Paulo Gazzaniga made a good save from Kylian Mbappe, but Vinicius chose to ignore his French strike partner when a promising attacking opportunity fell apart.
Viktor Tsygankov, a winger for Girona, should have hit for the visitors, but he missed a good chance and snuck at his shot.
With the game trickling towards half-time, Modric sent Madrid ahead with a rocket from distance.
After a corner was cleared into his path, the 39-year-old midfielder slammed a superb strike past the helpless Gazzaniga.
“Modric is a gift for football, he should continue as long as he wants”, Ancelotti told reporters.
“What he does, he does very well, we’ve been lucky to have a legend with us”.
 , ‘Very very happy’ ,
With a curling effort from the edge of the box from the edge of the box, Madrid had more chances to increase their lead in the second half.
After the former Paris Saint-Germain star brilliantly controlled a dropping ball, Gazzaniga made a fine save to stop Mbappe.
Eventually Mbappe fed Vinicius with a perfectly-weighted pass for the second goal, which the Brazilian brushed past the Girona goalkeeper.
Real Madrid and Spanish officials have been at odds with each other in recent weeks, but with the exception of one instance in which Rodrygo’s path was blocked by the referee, they had nothing to complain about on a quiet afternoon in the Spanish capital.
Some home fans whistled as players stood alongside a slogan reading “respect the referee, respect football” before the game.
After suffering a severe knee injury, David Alaba made his first appearance for Los Blancos in more than a year.
“It’s very important win for us, we are very happy, it’s a good moment for us”, the Austrian defender told Real Madrid TV.
“I am very, very happy, after the injury, I was ready to start this game”.
On Wednesday, Real Madrid will face Real Sociedad in the Copa del Rey semi-finals.
Girona coach Michel Sanchez said his side, 12th, were bound to struggle against the European champions.
Real Madrid recognizes that every decision is crucial, and Sanchez described it as “hard” at this difficult time of the year.
To stay on course for Champions League football next season, Athletic Bilbao defeated bottom team Real Valladolid 7-1 earlier.
Fourth-placed Ernesto Valverde’s side, fourth, had a lot of goals in the victory, which saw them four points clear of Villarreal in fifth place thanks to Spain star Nico Williams scoring twice.
Source: Channels TV
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