Major challenge at the Bernabéu | OneFootball

Girona faces one of the most demanding away games of the season this Friday at 9 p.m., with a visit to the Bernabéu to take on Real Madrid in a match corresponding to the 31st round of LaLiga.

The Girona team currently occupies the twelfth position in the standings with 37 points after 30 matches, with a record of nine wins, ten draws, and eleven losses, and a tally of 32 goals scored and 44 conceded. The team maintains a safety margin of 8 points from the relegation zone but aims to make the most of every match to secure their place in the league and look upwards in this final stretch of the season. They will face a Real Madrid side with 69 points, sitting in second place and 7 points behind the leader. The Whites have very solid numbers at their stadium, with 13 wins in 15 matches, 36 goals scored, and only 12 conceded.

Away from Montilivi, Girona has earned 15 points, with three wins, six draws, and six losses, scoring 15 goals and conceding 23, while staying true to a bold, possession-based style of play that has been one of the team’s hallmarks. Offensively, Vladyslav Vanat, with nine goals, is the top scorer for the red-and-white team in the league, followed by Viktor Tsygankov with five goals, and Azzedine Ounahi, who has been key in creating plays and making runs from the second line. The Girona team has an average possession close to 50%, an aspect they will need to adapt to the demands of a rival with great offensive capacity and control of the game’s tempo.

The precedents at the Bernabéu place the challenge in a context of maximum difficulty, but they also recall a historic February 17, 2019, when Girona defeated Real Madrid 1-2. The Girona team came back from Casemiro’s opening goal with strikes from Cristhian Stuani, from a penalty, and Portu, in a memorable second half. That victory marked Girona’s first and, to date, only win at the Bernabéu. Aside from this precedent, Girona also managed to draw 1-1 in the 2022-2023 season.

This Friday’s match will take place at the renovated Madrid stadium, with a capacity of over 83,000 spectators, in an atmosphere of high competitive and media pressure, which will test Girona’s character and ambition in one of the most attractive fixtures of the round.