Real Madrid and Girona Starting XIs: Bellingham and Brahim Díaz Start, "Los Blancos" Feature Entirely New Defense

Real Madrid hosts Girona in a La Liga Matchday 31 clash. This fixture holds significant importance for the home side, who are desperate for three points to avoid effectively surrendering the title race to Barcelona. "Los Blancos" currently trail the Catalans by seven points and must also contend with a challenging Champions League return leg against Bayern Munich. Álvaro Arbeloa's squad is on a difficult run, having suffered two consecutive 1-2 defeats to Mallorca and the Bavarians. Therefore, Real cannot afford another misstep.

On the other hand, Girona sits in 12th place with 37 points. The Catalans are not threatened by relegation and have slim chances of securing a European spot, essentially playing out the remainder of the season. They are in relatively good form, with two wins in their last three matches.

In the last five encounters between the two teams, Real Madrid has held a clear advantage with four wins and one draw. The draw came in their most recent meeting, a 1-1 stalemate in Girona. Prior to that, Real had enjoyed a run of four consecutive victories against the Catalans without conceding a goal.

Álvaro Arbeloa is without the injured Rodrygo and Thibaut Courtois for this match. The Real coach is also resting defenders Antonio Rüdiger, Álvaro Carreras, and Trent Alexander-Arnold, clearly with the return leg in Munich in mind. Franco Mastantuono is suspended due to an accumulation of yellow cards. As a result, Real's lineup features seven changes today, with Jude Bellingham and Brahim Díaz starting in place of Thiago Pittarch and Arda Güler. Eduardo Camavinga starts in midfield instead of his compatriot Aurélien Tchouaméni. The attack will once again be led by stars Kylian Mbappé and Vinicius Júnior. In fact, only they, Federico Valverde, and goalkeeper Andriy Lunin retain their spots from the Bayern match. The defense has been completely revamped, with Dani Carvajal, Éder Militão, Raúl Asensio, and Fran García starting from the first whistle.

Girona's injury situation is not much better. Marc-André ter Stegen, Donny van de Beek, Portu, and Juan Carlos are all long-term absentees. Míchel has opted for a formation with a packed midfield, with Claudio Echeverri leading the Catalan attack, supported on the wings by Viktor Tsygankov and Azzedine Ounahi. The midfield features established names like Thomas Lemar and Axel Witsel.