Real Madrid vs Girona: Three key battles to keep an eye on | OneFootball

Following a morale-boosting 6-3 aggregate win over Manchester City in the play-off round of the UEFA Champions League, Real Madrid are set to return to action in La Liga today on Sunday with a match against Girona.

As was the case in their midweek UCL tie, the Merengues cannot afford to lose any points in this game, as they cannot afford to lose any more points following the defeat to Espanyol, and the draws against Atletico Madrid and Osasuna in their last three league games, all of which have been highly controversial because of refereeing errors.

Both Barcelona and Atletico Madrid have already won their games in matchday 25 of La Liga, and thus, are both ahead of the Merengues on the league table as things stand. Thus, Los Blancos will have to get the full three points to remain toe-to-toe with these sides.

But they will be facing a stern test in their next league tie, as Girona, although not as good as they were last season, are still a very good side, and will be particularly looking to spring a surprise against Real Madrid to recover their morale after their four defeats in the last five league games.

Keeping in view the quality of players in both sides, the following three battles will be particularly interesting and can turn out to determine the result of the game:

Kylian Mbappe vs Ladislav Krejci

Following his hat-trick in the UCL match against Manchester City, the French forward will be in very high spirits when he takes to the pitch against Girona tonight.

Mbappe has been a key starter for Carlo Ancelotti ever since his arrival at Real Madrid and is engaged in a personal battle against Robert Lewandowski for the Pichichi title this season. As a result, he will be particularly keen to add more goals to his La Liga tally, which currently stands at 17.

Facing him in this game will be the 25-year-old defender Ladislav Krejci, who is one of the starters for Michel, and plays in the middle of the defensive line. In this position, he will be the one tasked to stop the Frenchman from threatening the Girona goal.

His ability to cut out passes with timely interceptions, averaging 1.2 interceptions per game according to Sofascore, can turn out to be important to keep the likes of Vinicius, Rodrygo, and Mbappe from combining and putting a threat to the Girona goal.

Miguel Gutierrez vs Lucas Vazquez

Miguel Gutierrez will once again be the target of attention in this game as he faces his former side, Real Madrid. With Girona, the fullback has been a regular starter, having started 21 La Liga games up to now, and he particularly stands out with his dribbling ability, winning 50% of all the dribbles he attempts, according to Sofascore statistics.

Similarly, his creativity can also be a problem for the Merengues to deal with, as he has already provided 4 assists up to now.

For this match, he will be facing Lucas Vazquez, who is expected to return to the starting lineup for this game after having missed the last few games due to physical problems.

Ancelotti has already hinted at his return to the right-back position for this match, as Federico Valverde has been playing a lot of minutes and would need rest before another set of difficult games in the Copa del Rey and UCL.

Donny van de Beek vs Aurelien Tchouameni

Donny van de Beek has been a regular starter for Michel this season and his presence in the midfield has provided most of the creativity for his team. The Dutch midfielder has 2 goals and 2 assists to his name up to now, has created 3 big chances, and provides 0.7 key passes on average in each game, according to Sofascore.

However, he is not coming into this game at a very opportune time, as he will be facing the French midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni, who has been putting in improved performances in the last few weeks.

The French midfielder was once again key for Ancelotti in the UCL tie against Manchester City, as he held the dangerous City attackers in check and kept them from threatening the Real Madrid goal too much. In the game against Girona, he will be keen to keep up his good performances.