Girona dent Real Madrid’s slim title hopes with shock La Liga victory

Real Madrid thought everything was going so swimmingly, having overcome three major obstacles in a week with a tough run of fixtures. Then they fell at the final hurdle in a defeat at home to relegation battlers Girona in La Liga.

Casemiro opened the scoring in the first half with a well-executed header, but Sergio Ramos would concede a second-half penalty for a blatant handball, allowing Cristhian Stuani to equalise. Portu then added the winner later in the second half with a diving header, whilst Ramos would see a second yellow in the final stages to rub salt into the wounds of a 1-2 defeat.

Our tactical analysis will use statistics to identify what key points Real Madrids Santiago Solari can take from the game.

Real Madrid are worse off with Marcelo in the team

Another opportunity for Real Madrids Brazilian full-back, another game where Marcelo ends the day as the villain. The defender was recalled as Sergio Reguilon was rested given the demanding schedule, but Marcelo yet again failed to take his chance. The first half was an improvement, getting forward threateningly without being compromised at the back, but Gironas tactical switch at half-time, allowing him more freedom down the left, saw Portu slip in behind to exploit his lack of discipline time and time again.

The clearest example was in the winning goal, where Marcelo arrived late to the backline having ventured upfield and then stood still. He was caught out as Portu pulled off his man and ran in behind at full pelt. It left Marcelo looking foolish again, as did winning only one duel in the full 90 minutes. As his poor form continues, it begins to look like less of a blip and more of a long-term decline for one of the staples of Real Madrids recent success.

With a goal conceded every 49.6 minutes that Marcelo has been on the field, more than twice as frequently when compared to the same rate for Reguilon, it is a concern. The full-back continues to make the same basic mistakes of being caught way out of position and too high up the field. Against Barcelona, it was not a game-changer. This time out though, questions could justifiably be asked as to whether Girona could have turned the game around had it been the more disciplined Reguilon on the left of defence.

A worrying change at the break

Real Madrid looked to be cruising as they arrived at half-time, helped by Casemiros header. Solaris team were dominant on the ball, with as high as 71% possession. After the break, that all changed. In part that was down to the way that Real Madrid inexplicably took their foot off the gas. After a tough run of fixtures against Barcelona, Atletico Madrid and Ajax, the hosts seemed to be running out of gas and decided to hold back and ease off to save their depleting energy reserves.

However, doing so had a huge imp