5 Reasons why Real Madrid lost to Girona

#1 Marcelo's poor form

FC Barcelona v Real Madrid - Copa del Rey Semi Final

Marcelo has undeniably been the standout left-back in the world for over a decade, holding down the spot for club and country, with his bursting runs forward and pinpoint delivery proving to be extremely beneficial for his teams.

For the entirety of his Real Madrid career, Marcelo has not really had any challenge to his first-team status, nor was there really any need for it, as his world-class levels meant he was a shoo-in into any team in the world.

However, there have been significant drops in his performance level of late, leading Santiago Solari to drop him from his starting eleven, with upstart Sergi Reguillon being his go-to man for the left-back position.

Indeed, the Spaniard had started each of the last seven matches in all competitions heading into the Girona match and had more than held his own, with his displays consigning Marcelo to the bench (and it can be argued that he was not missed).

The Brazilian was restored to the starting 11 against Girona and Solari would surely be regretting this move, as the 31-year-old was a culprit for both goals, being caught out of position on both occasions leading to Girona putting the ball in the back of the net, while he was not up to pace with his team's forays forward.

Girona seemed to notice his struggles, with most of their attacks being channeled towards Marcelo and this proved instrumental, as he struggled to contain them, with Portu in particular being a handful, carving out numerous chances after leaving Marcelo for dead.

Marcelo has been a faithful servant to Real all these years, but his displays in recent weeks leave a lot to be desired and he must have an improvement pretty soon especially seeing as Reguillon is more than ready to take his place.