This is Real life. In the hours before this unlikely title decider, posters had gone up near the Santiago Bernabéu declaring that Girona were forever dreaming; if so, a cruel awakening awaited them. Carlo Ancelotti had insisted that whatever happened here the title race was not run but by the end it was hard not to see this as definitive. It was not only that Real Madrid beat their nearest, most unexpected rivals for La Liga to go five points clear, it was the way they did it.
Two goals from Jude Bellingham and one each from Vinícius Júnior and Rodrygo delivered a statement to go with victory. Girona have been superb this season but when it came to it, Madrid were simply too good, reasserting their superiority. It was, Ancelotti said, their best display of the season “in every sense” and the timing could not have been better. Vinícius in particular stood above, his coach calling him the best in the world, his countryman and opponent Yan Couto overwhelmed and left in tears at full time.
