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Real Madrid’s impressive recent form was brought to a halt as Los Blancos suffered a 2-1 loss at home to Girona on Sunday. Santiago Solari’s side went into the game with an opportunity to reclaim the second position but fluffed their lines.
Following last week’s 3-1 win over regional rivals Atletico Madrid, the European champions welcomed Girona with a wave of confidence. After dominating the early exchanges, Real Madrid opened the scoring in the 25th minute through midfielder Casemiro.
The Brazilian slotted home a fine finish after being set up by Toni Kroos. Solari’s charges continued to dominate but the away side put up a resolute performance at the back.
After going close a couple of times, it was the minnows who scored after the restart, with Christhian Stuani finding the equaliser. The striker stepped up to beautifully convert from the spot after Girona won a penalty from a reckless Sergio Ramos tackle.
The equaliser sprung Madrid back into life but the hosts found it increasingly difficult to break down the Girona defence. Against the run of play, Girona went 2-1 up after Portu scored a very impressive solo goal.
The goal appeared to have struck a hammer blow to Madrid, leaving the Blancos sapped of confidence in the final 15 minutes. Solari brought on Gareth Bale and Mariano Diaz to try to change things but it was little too late for the pair to have any effect on the game.
It went from bad to worse for the hosts as Ramos was sent off after receiving a second yellow-card for another rough tackle.
The 2-1 loss means Real Madrid have now dropped to third-place on the Liga table, behind both Atletico Madrid and Barcelona.
Meanwhile, Twitter has been buzzing with comments and trolls following Real Madrid’s latest loss:
Here are some of the best tweets:
