Preview: Real Madrid vs Girona - prediction, team news, lineups

Fresh from back-to-back defeats, Real Madrid will resume their La Liga campaign with a home fixture against Girona on Friday night.

Los Blancos have serious ground to make up at the top of the La Liga table, sitting second, seven points behind leaders Barcelona, while Girona occupy 12th position.

Match preview

Real Madrid saw their La Liga title hopes take a huge hit last weekend, with the capital giants suffering a 2-1 defeat to struggling Mallorca before Barcelona beat Atletico Madrid late on, and the gap between the two rivals at the top of the division is now seven points.

Los Blancos will surely have to win their final eight league games of the season to stand any chance of overcoming Barcelona, while Alvaro Arbeloa's side have work to do in the Champions League, having lost 2-1 to Bayern Munich in the first leg of their quarter-final on Tuesday.

Real Madrid will face Girona before heading to Germany for the second leg of their European contest with the Bundesliga champions, and they will need a special performance in order to progress to the semi-finals of the Champions League.

Los Blancos have won 13 and lost two of their 15 league matches at Bernabeu this season, and they will be welcoming a Girona outfit that have picked up 15 points from 15 away games.

Real Madrid have won eight of their previous 13 matches against Girona in all competitions, but it was 1-1 when the pair locked horns in the reverse game earlier this season.

Girona have actually lost four of their last five matches with Real Madrid, including a 2-0 defeat in the corresponding game during the 2024-25 campaign.

However, the Catalan outfit won their first-ever meeting with Real Madrid in July 2017 and also have a recent Bernabeu success to their name, triumphing 2-1 in the famous stadium in February 2019 - the second of three wins over the capital giants.

Girona will enter this match off the back of an impressive result, beating Villarreal 1-0, and they have picked up six points from their last three games, having also overcome Athletic Bilbao on March 14.

Michel's side are currently 12th in the table, eight points outside of the relegation zone and seven points behind sixth-placed Celta Vigo, so a mid-table finish seems likely.

Girona will know that Real Madrid will have their mind elsewhere heading into this match, and that could hand the White and Reds an advantage on Friday night.

Real Madrid La Liga form:

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Real Madrid form (all competitions):

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Girona La Liga form:

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Team News

Real Madrid will be without the services of Rodrygo (knee), Thibaut Courtois (thigh) and Franco Mastantuono (suspended) for Friday's La Liga contest, while Ferland Mendy (hamstring) faces a late fitness test before his availability is confirmed.

Los Blancos need to win to stand any chance of remaining in the title race, so Arbeloa cannot afford to completely shuffle his pack ahead of the second leg with Bayern, but there are expected to be changes, with Dani Carvajal, Eder Militao, Fran Garcia and Eduardo Camavinga potentially all being introduced into the XI.

Aurelien Tchouameni is suspended for the second leg with Bayern, so the Frenchman should start, while Vinicius Junior and Kylian Mbappe are expected to continue in the final third.

As for Girona, Portu (knee), Donny van de Beek (Achilles), Juan Carlos (knee), Marc-Andre ter Stegen (hamstring) and Ricard Artero (ankle) will all miss the game in Madrid.

Vladyslav Vanat (thigh) and Daley Blind (muscle) both had to be substituted in the clash with Villarreal last time out, and the former is seen as the more likely of the two to miss out.

Abel Ruiz could come in for Vanat, but Thomas Lemar may again have to accept a spot on the bench for the first whistle, with Ivan Martin likely to retain his spot in the XI.

Real Madrid possible starting lineup:

Lunin; Carvajal, Militao, Huijsen, F Garcia; Valverde, Tchouameni, Camavinga; Guler; Vinicius, Mbappe

Girona possible starting lineup:

Gazzaniga; Martinez, Reis, Blind, Moreno; Beltran, Witsel; Tsygankov, Martin, Ounahi; Ruiz

We say: Real Madrid 2-1 Girona

This is a massive match for Real Madrid, and one that they simply have to win. Los Blancos are struggling for form at the moment, but we are expecting them to navigate their way to an important three points on Friday night.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.