La Liga 2025-26: Real Madrid hold on to third straight draw in 1-1 stalemate in Girona

Real Madrid’s struggle continued on Sunday as they battled to a 1-1 draw at Girona in LaLiga as Kylian Mbappe’s second-half penalty canceled out Azzedine Ounahi’s opener, extending Real’s winless run in the Spanish top flight to three games.

The draw drops Real to second in the standings with 33 points, one behind leaders Barcelona, ​​and follows previous stalemates at Rayo Vallecano and Elche.

Villarreal are third with 32 points, while Atletico Madrid are fourth with 31, with just three points separating the top four teams.

Real dominated large parts of the match but lacked the finishing touch around Girona’s penalty area and failed to create significant danger in the first half, despite Paulo Gazzaniga making good saves to deny Eder Militao and Vinicius Jr.

Girona, seated deep in a compact defensive formation, frustrated the visitor while showing promise on the counter-attack.

The breakthrough came just before half-time, two minutes after Real were left fuming over Mbappe’s effort which was controversially disallowed for handball following a VAR review in the build-up to the match.

Girona took advantage of the momentum shift when Viktor Tsygankov led a quick counter-attack down the right channel. The Ukrainian delivered an extremely low cross to Ounahi, who fired a thunderous goal into the top corner from just inside the penalty area, leaving Thibaut Courtois without a chance.

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After the break, Real showed more urgency in its hunt for the equalizer. However, it was Girona that almost doubled their lead in the 56th minute.

Ivan Martin played through Vladyslav Vanat, who found himself one-on-one with Courtois. The Belgian goalkeeper produced a stunning one-handed reflex to deny Vanat’s low shot.

Real’s perseverance was finally rewarded in the 67th minute. Vinicius Jr.’s crazy run from the left led to a foul in the penalty area, earning the visitor a penalty. Mbappe stepped up and calmly placed his shot into the bottom left corner, barely out of Gazzaniga’s reach.

Real pressed for a winner, with Gazzaniga making a string of saves to deny efforts from Vinicius Jr and Mbappe, while Courtois also had to work his magic to deny Joel Roca in a counter-attack in Girona.

Real complained heavily after another penalty in the 80th minute when Rodrygo appeared to be tripped by Roca in the penalty area but the referee allowed play to continue.

Mbappé squandered a golden opportunity in extra time by sending a goal from the penalty area just wide of the goal.

Published on December 1, 2025