Barcelona led at half-time, but Girona turned 1-2 to 4-2 with the help of two goals from Portu. With their victory in the Catalan derby, Girona overtook Barcelona and took 2nd place, but they are 13 points up on Real Madrid with only four league rounds remaining.
Real Madrid have thus secured the league title before Wednesday’s return match against Bayern Munich in the Champions League semi-final.
Brahim Díaz, Jude Bellingham and Joselu scored Real Madrid’s goals against Cádiz.
Ten changes
Carlo Ancelotti spared many players in Saturday’s league match. In the starting line-up, Nacho was the only one who also started in the 2-2 match in Munich earlier in the week.
Bellingham, Vinicius Junior and Federico Valverde were among those spared, but they came on during the 2nd half and Bellingham scored the 2-0 goal that punctuated the game.
Thibaut Courtois was back in the Real Madrid goal on Saturday after his long injury absence, and he kept a clean sheet. Andrij Lunin has established himself as first choice in the Belgian star goalkeeper’s absence.
Real Madrid have only lost one of 34 league matches so far. The team has beaten Barcelona at home and away and outclassed Girona twice.
Turned
Andreas Christensen and Robert Lewandowski each gave Barcelona the lead before the break against Girona, but the sensational team of the season turned the game around with goals from Portu (2) and Miguel Gutiérrez in the second half.
Girona are now assured of a top-four position and Champions League play. The team can also cheat Barcelona for participation in the lucrative super cup by defending 2nd place at the start of the season.
(©NTB)