Player Ratings from Real Madrid’s deafening 2-1 loss to Girona
Conclusion
Many parallels can be drawn from Real Madrid’s last two matches against Ajax and Girona. In both matches, Madrid soaked up plenty of pressure, struggled to get the ball into the oppositions half and string up some passes.
Of course, one match resulted in a win and the other a loss. Solari’s decisions to try and alter the starting eleven was a poor one. Santiago took this opportunity to rotate the players to give others a rest using those who haven’t racked as much time on the pitch.
It was not the tactics that flushed this game down the drain but it was the personnel and lack of mental strength. Yet again Marcelo’s poor man marking resulted in the second goal by Girona.
Real Madrid is in between a rock and a hard place, especially in La Liga. Madrid is in the knockout stages of two competitions and has dropped points with just eight matches left in the league campaign. Now is the time to go all out in every match and field the strongest eleven players every time.