Jude Bellingham’s Real Madrid missed their chance of returning to the top of La Liga following a goalless draw against midtable side Rayo Vallencano on Matchday 12 at Santiago Bernabéu last night. The 0-0 result meant Girona, who won their own league fixture 4-2 against CA Osasuna at Estadio El Sadar a day ago, will remain at the top of La Liga after 12 games. The dark horses of this season’s Spanish top-flight football now has 31 points out of a possible 36, becoming the first team to register double-digits of wins and score almost 30 goals thus far.
Real Could Not Break Down Rayo’s Defence Despite a Total of 22 Shots
Just a day before the Real-Rayo clash, Girona travelled to face CA Osasuna at the latter’s home and managed to secure a comeback victory versus their opponents. The visitors took the lead in the 16th minute, before Jagoba Arrasate’s men fought back to score twice. Nevertheless, the night which belongs to Girona saw the team bag three goals in the space of less than 20 minutes and go top of La Liga in the end. Iván Martín, Artem Dovbyk, Viktor Tsyhankov and Aleix García were the goal scorers for the visitors, while CA Osasuna scored theirs thanks to Ante Budimir.
As for Matchday 12 of the Spanish La Liga at Santiago Bernabéu, Los Blancos struggled all night long to penetrate through Rayo Vallecano’s stubborn backline and not even an in-form midfield sensation like Jude Bellingham could help them get onto the scoreboard after 90 minutes plus added time.
Carlo Ancelotti’s side managed to register a jaw-dropping 22 shots in the match, with only five of them hitting on goal. These strikes included a one-on-one opportunity by midfielder Federico Valverde in the sixth minute, a close-ranged effort by Joselu in the 39th minute, substitute Rodrygo’s shot that went just wide in the 71st minute and his backheeled try that almost caught everyone off guard in the injury time of the second half. Real’s inability to break down the Rayo defence meant Girona remain top of La Liga table at the moment.
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Third-Placed Barca Back to Winning Ways and Close Gap on Girona for the Top of La Liga
Elsewhere in another Matchday 12 fixture at Estadio de Anoeta, Barcelona finally got back to winning ways in the league via a 1-0 win over Real Sociedad. 24-year-old Uruguayan defender Ronald Araújo was the saviour for Xavi’s Barca as he caught the Sociedad defence sleeping and netted a 90+2th-minute winning header into the back of the net. With Araújo’s second goal in nine appearances in all competitions for Barcelona this season, the Catalan Giants are now within four and two points from the team at the top of La Liga Girona as well as second-placed El Clásico rivals Real Madrid.
1. 𝐆𝐢𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐚—31 points (12 games)
2. 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐌𝐚𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐝—29 points (12 games)
3. 𝐁𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐚—27 points (12 games)
4. 𝐀𝐭𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐨 𝐌𝐚𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐝—25 points (11 games)Just as expected at the top of La Liga 😅 pic.twitter.com/zUC6fprQce
— B/R Football (@brfootball) November 5, 2023
Can Girona Cause the Biggest Upset This Season?
Girona, Real Madrid and Barcelona will next face Rayo Vallecona, Valencia CR and Deportivo Alavés respectively for Matchweek 13 of the 2023/2024 Season, and it would be interesting to see how long more the team at the top of La Liga can continue to produce winning results as seen in the past 12 league matches. The side finished 10th last season will be blessed with sufficient rest time to challenge for the top of La Liga table this year, since they are without any European club football competition obligations, unlike the two traditional Spanish powerhouses at Real and Barca.
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