Real Madrid vs Girona
Real Madrid hope to keep their La Liga title hopes alive on Friday when Girona are the visitors to the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium.
The curtain raiser to this weekend’s Primera Division action pits together a wounded giant and La Liga’s ambitious disruptor. Sitting second in the table and seven points adrift of leaders Barcelona, Los Blancos have given themselves a lot of work to do following their 2-1 loss away to strugglers Real Mallorca last week, and the La Liga 2026 betting odds have drifted steadily away from Madrid in recent weeks.
Meanwhile, Michel’s Girona have worked their way out of trouble over the past few weeks and are in a relatively comfortable mid-table position, beating Villarreal on Monday, and they will be no pushovers when they arrive in Madrid for this Friday showdown.
But it surely is a game that Los Blancos must win.
Talking Points
Madrid’s season is in peril
A week is a long time in football. And five days ago, Real Madrid was within four points of Barcelona in the La Liga chase and looking forward to a Champions League quarter-final first leg at home to Bayern Munich.
Fast forward to Tuesday night and Los Blancos find themselves with a large hill, if not a mountain, to climb when they head to Munich next week, having lost 2-1 at home to Bayern. That disappointment came in the wake of a disastrous weekend in the Primera Division, when Arbeloa’s men fell to defeat at the hands of relegation battlers, Mallorca, while Barcelona stretched their lead to seven points by beating Atletico Madrid.
Los Rojiblancos are in the Copa del Rey final against Real Sociedad, while the Blaugrana defended their Supercopa title in January, beating Real Madrid in the final. So what does Real Madrid have left?
Not so long ago, Arbeloa’s men dumped Manchester City out of the Champions League, as Vinicius Junior scored a brace at the Etihad Stadium. They will be hoping for the same in Munich after Kylian Mbappe halved the 2-0 deficit against Munich after tapping in a superb cross from Trent Alexander-Arnold.
The former Liverpool wing-back has grown into his role in recent weeks, and Arbeloa needs some big performances from his best players. But the team, captained by Federico Valverde, has reached its now-or-never moment.
Girona have breathing space
After finishing third in the 2023-24 campaign to upset the establishment, a 16th-place finish last term was quite a collapse for Girona. And Michel’s men have toiled again this season, but they have rallied in recent weeks. If they maintain a level of consistency, they will be just fine.
Girona’s La Liga 2026 results have been pretty good of late, picking up eight points from the last six games, which has kept them nicely afloat. Now, they are comfortably placed, eight points above 18th-placed Elche. That surprising win over Villarreal worked wonders, and Michel’s team has climbed up the La Liga table to 12th place, a single point behind Osasuna in ninth, not to mention Espanyol and Athletic Bilbao in 10th and 11th.
So Girona are looking upwards, and they have bags of experience in their team. Club legend and captain Cristhian Stuani is still with the squad, which has Dutch defender Daley Blind alongside Hugo Rincon, on loan from Athletic Bilbao.
But it looks like Girona will be without their top scorer, Vladyslav Vanat. The Ukrainian striker, with nine goals in the league campaign so far, pulled up after 12 minutes during the win over Villarreal, and scans have revealed a hamstring injury, so Abel Ruiz is likely to step in, or maybe Stuani.
History
Since Girona’s climb to the top table, Real Madrid have won eight of their 13 encounters, losing three, and there have been two draws.
The return match was a 1-1 draw, where an Mbappe penalty saved Los Blancos after Azzedine Ounahi had given the hosts a lead. Meanwhile, Real won 2-0 when the teams met at the Santiago Bernabeu last term.
In terms of recent form, Los Blancos have won four and lost two of their last six games, while Girona have won two, drawn two, and lost two.
Betting Tip
At SBOTOP odds of 1.25, Los Blancos are hot favourites to win this clash, with Girona at 9.50 and the draw at 6.50, and Arbeloa’s side really need to grab all three points to keep the heat on Barcelona, who host free-falling neighbours Espanyol on Saturday.
Michel’s Girona have had a good run with two wins and a draw from the last four league games. After sinking the Yellow Submarine, their tails are up, and I do think they will make life difficult for Los Blancos.
A SHORT EXPLANATION ON HOW OUR (⭐) BETS ARE WORTH:
⭐⭐⭐= €20 (HIGHLY CONFIDENT)
⭐⭐= €10 (CONFIDENT)
⭐= €5 (SOMEWHAT CONFIDENT)
Disclaimer: Odds are correct at time of publish.
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