Castellanos Nets Four and the 5 Things We Learnt As Real Madrid Collapse at Girona

• Girona beat Real Madrid 4-2 at the Estadio Montilivi on Tuesday to put Barcelona a step closer to the title
• With eight games remaining, Madrid entered the midweek round of games 11 points behind their fierce rivals but ended up with a bitter taste in their mouths
• Sports Brief takes a look at the five key talking points from the historic win for Girona

Taty Castellanos scored four goals against Real Madrid to give Girona a decisive win over the European champions and bring Barcelona one step closer to winning the Spanish championship for the first time since 2019.

In a brilliant performance against Carlo Ancelotti's team in Catalonia, Castellanos, who is on loan from Major League Soccer team New York City to Girona, scored four goals in the span of 50 minutes.

Despite Vinicius Jnr's late comeback and Lucas Vazquez's late consolation, Real's 4-2 loss means that, if Barcelona wins their game-in-hand, Real would trail the league leaders by 14 points.

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Here are the five key takeaways from the midweek fixture involving Madrid and Girona:

1. Castellanos owns Real Madrid

Valentin 'Taty' Castellanos bagged a staggering four goals against Real Madrid as Girona picked Los Blancos apart at the Estadio Municipal de Montilivi.

The 24-year-old scored twice in the opening 25 minutes before adding a brace in the second half to complete the rout against their illustrious opponents.

According to GOAL, the Argentine forward is the first player to score four goals in La Liga against Real Madrid in the 21st century.

2. Ancelotti gets it wrong

Carlo Ancelotti failed to engineer his first-ever win against Girona as the Italian tactician saw his side picked apart by the Catalan side with the wrong selection.

The Italian's selection proved to be his Achilles Heel in the fixture, as his charges looked disjointed, producing a lacklustre performance on the road.

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Ancelotti has faced 27 clubs in La Liga and defeated 26. Only one club remains unbeaten by the Italian; Girona, per Madrid Universal.

3. Benzema, Courtois sorely missed

Two of Carlo Ancelotti's trusted soldiers, Thibaut Courtois and Karim Benzema, missed out on the Girona trip due to health problems.

Their absence was conspicuous as the defending La Liga champions looked out of sort, lacked chemistry and, most importantly, lacked Benzema's leadership on the field and Courtois' calmness in between the sticks.

In their absence, replacements Rodrigo and Andriy Lunin put up a below-par performance which culminated in the humbling defeat.

4. Vinicius involved but overly dramatic

The zippy winger really pushed Girona to the limit, but he was fortunate to escape with just a yellow card.

In a classic Vinicius flair, he appeared to get involved in every altercation and melee, frequently causing tempers to flare. He was lucky to elude a second card each time.

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Regardless of his shenanigans, the 22-year-old scored Madrid's first goal and helped set up their second as Los Blancos left Girona with their tails in between their legs.

5. Madrid not interested in La Liga

The only plausible explanation for how lacklustre their performance was is that Madrid's attention right now is on the Champions League.

Given the absence of Benzema and Courtois, Los Blancos still had a lot in their firearm to hurt Girona, but clearly, Ancelotti's men looked disinterested with their insipid display.

Unfortunately, they were made to pay dearly for their sub-par performance by the MLS loanee Castellanos, which will make Man City's dreaded finisher Erling Haaland lick his lips ahead of their Champions League last four meeting next month.

Girona thrash Madrid

Earlier, Sports Brief reported that Girona striker Taty Castellanos hit an incredible four goals as his side thrashed champions Real Madrid 4-2 in La Liga on Tuesday, helping leaders Barcelona edge closer to the trophy.

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Carlo Ancelotti's Madrid are 11 points behind Barcelona, having played one extra match, with this defeat virtually killing any hope they had remaining of defending the title.

Castellanos was left in tears after missing a big chance against Barcelona earlier in April as Girona drew but made amends in spectacular fashion at Montilivi against Madrid.