Girona 1-4 Real Madrid: 5 talking points

#2 Girona's attackers in scintillating sync

Portu, Lozano and Garcia worked to devastating effect in

first

half

Even without top scorer Christian Stuani in the starting line-up, Girona managed to punch holes in this admittedly lacklustre defense. Set out on their traditional 4-3-3, last year's tormentor Portu was deployed on the right, Lozano led from the middle while goalscorer Borja Garcia ran the show from the left.

This isn't exactly a formidable attacking line-up and a team like Real Madrid gunning for the title shouldn't have problems squelching such a mediocre frontline, but each of them were afforded space to run in between the lines and cause troubles. Portu in particular, was the creative hub of most of the chances. He made the most of Marcelo's attacking penchant to run into the gap left behind him before cutting inside and laying off for either Lozano or Garcia.

While scoring the opener, the latter was completely unmarked in the box. Nobody cared to track his runs either. So Garcia read Portu's movement well and stationed himself in the right position to dispatch the cross. Lozano appeared to bamboozle the defense by drifting out wide on numerous occasions and letting the wingers take centrestage.

The attacking interplay by the Girona forwards was on full swing during a chaotic first-half as Real Madrid were put to the sword.