Girona 4-2 Real Madrid: Player ratings for Los Blancos as Valentin Castellanos nets super hat-trick in a shock result | La Liga 2022-23
Real Madrid fell to a catastrophic 4-2 defeat to Girona in La Liga on Tuesday, April 25. Valentin Castellano scored all four goals for the Blanquivermells on the night as Los Blancos were brutally exposed at the back.
The Argentine opened the scoring in the 12th minute with a nice header and then hit the visitors on the break to make it 2-0, another 12 minutes later.
Shortly after that, Vinicius Junior pulled one back for Real Madrid and reduced the deficit, but Castellanos restored their two-goal advantage with his hat-trick goal just seconds into the second half.
TATY CASTELLANOS WITH FOUR GOALS AGAINST REAL MADRID 🤯 https://t.co/F0rYOSTcBH
To pile more misery, he scored a fourth goal after the hour mark too, becoming the first player in the 21st century to net as many times in a single league game against Los Blancos.
Lucas Vazquez made it 4-2 late on but the defeat ensured Real Madrid's hopes of retaining their La Liga title were all but over. Barcelona now have the chance to go 14 points clear of Los Blancos when the Catalans face Rayo Vallecano on April 26.
Here are the player ratings for Real Madrid:
Andriy Lunin - 3/10
In the absence of the ill Thibaut Courtois, Lunin got a rare opportunity in goal but ended up having a nightmare after conceding four times.
Daniel Carvajal - 4/10
He struggled to get forward with Girona pressing high but was unable to cope with their pressure too.
Eder Militao - 2/10
Castellanos made mincemeat of Militao on the night, so much so that he's going to have nightmares of the Argentine for days to come.
Antonio Rudiger - 5/10
The German offered absolutely no resistance to Girona's attacks.
Nacho - 4/10
He was guilty of leaving acres of space in behind and was beaten by Yan Couto for Girona's third goal. Nacho was subsequently taken off for Real Madrid's first change of the evening.
Federico Valverde - 5/10
The Uruguayan has so often been the player to dictate proceedings for Real Madrid but he, too, endured a torrid evening in Catalonia. His passes were awry and struggled to control midfield against Girona's fast and crisp passing.
Toni Kroos - 6.5/10
His passing was as accurate as ever and even completed several long balls to push his side forward.
Luka Modric - 6.5/10
The Croatian maestro went about his business as usual but couldn't impact the game much.
Marco Asensio - 6.5/10
He made a wonderful assist for Vinicius in the first half but waned after the break.
Rodrygo - 6/10
Rodrygo missed the chance to put Madrid in front inside 40 seconds and that was as close as he'd get for the remainder of the match.
Vinicius Junior - 8/10
Real Madrid's best player of the night with a goal and an assist.
Substitutes
Eduardo Camavinga (52' for Nacho) - 4/10
The Frenchman failed to add anything meaningful to Real Madrid's midfield.
Aurelien Tchouameni (63' for Modric) - 4/10
Nothing of note from Tchouameni either.
Lucas Vazquez (79' for Carvajal) - 7/10
He doubled Los Blancos' advantage with a simple finish from close range.
Mariano Diaz (79' for Rodrygo) - N/A
Too little, too late.