In a stunning upset, Girona beat Real Madrid 4-2 at Montilivi on Tuesday, with Taty Castellanos becoming the first player this century to score four goals against the Spanish giants in La Liga.
The loss puts Madrid 11 points behind bitter rivals Barcelona with only eight games remaining, and it may widen the gap even further.
Castellanos scored twice in the first half to give Girona a lead, but Vinicius Junior pulled one back for Madrid just after the half-hour mark. However, Madrid looked uninspired without the injured Karim Benzema, and Girona dominated at the start of the second half.
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Castellanos completed his hat-trick quickly and added a fourth, rendering Lucas Vazquez’s late goal irrelevant.
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Michel’s side took an early lead after Rodrigo Riquelme instigated a brilliant move that led to Castellanos nodding in Miguel Gutierrez’s cross.
Castellanos then scored his second goal in the 24th minute, blasting home after nudging Eder Militao out of the way and racing onto a hopeful Arnau Martinez punt.
Vinicius gave Madrid a lifeline by nodding in Marco Asensio’s cross, but the two-goal deficit was quickly restored 36 seconds into the second half as Castellanos guided Yan Couto’s delivery home.
Castellanos headed in a deflected cross past Andriy Lunin just past the hour mark to put the game out of reach for Madrid. Although Vazquez scored a consolation goal, it was too little, too late.
The defeat leaves Madrid’s title hopes in tatters, while Girona celebrated a historic victory.
