Girona pull off shock win at Bernabeu over Madrid
Madrid, Feb. 17: Real Madrid threw away their lead and perhaps their hopes of catching Barcelona as Girona came from behind to pull off a shock 2-1 victory at the Santiago Bernabeu on Sunday.
Girona had not won in 13 matches and looked on course for a seventh straight defeat when Casemiro headed a dominant Madrid ahead in the first half.
But complacency set in, and Girona took full advantage as Cristhian Stuani scored a penalty and Portu nodded in at the back post, leaving the European champions scrapping even for a point before Sergio Ramos was sent off in the 90th minute.
They failed even to muster that, with defeat here a major act of selfharm for what was beginning to look like a serious resurgence in La Liga’s title race.
“It’s a shame,” Real coach Santiago Solari said. “We drop points and our rivals won. It is a pity because we were on a great run.” Is the league over? “Not at all,” he said.
MESSI LIFTS BARCA Lionel Messi scored a penalty and missed another as La Liga leaders Barcelona ground out an unconvincing 1-0 win over
Real Valladolid, while Antoine Griezmann surpassed Fernando Torres with his 130th goal for Atletico Madrid.
Messi’s fitness was again in the spotlight on Saturday after a niggling thigh strain in recent weeks, but he completed the full 90 minutes at the Camp Nou and hit the 30-goal mark at Barcelona for the 11th straight season.