GIRONA: Real Madrid were held to a third consecutive La Liga draw in a 1-1 tie at Girona on Sunday, allowing Barcelona to retain pole position.
Azzedine Ounahi fired the hosts into a surprise lead before half-time, with Kylian Mbappe earning Madrid a point from the penalty spot.
After Barcelona beat Alaves on Saturday to move top of the table, Madrid needed a victory at Girona to reclaim top spot but now sit second, a point behind the champions.
The draw increases the pressure on Madrid coach Xabi Alonso, after recent rumours suggesting his future is insecure in the Madrid dugout.
“We are up there, it’s all very even, it’s a long season and we have to continue,” Alonso told reporters.
“I liked the reaction from the players. It was not enough to turn it around but we were close, and we have to continue with the unity we have, being self-critical enough, and wanting to win away from home, with this phase of the calendar where we have so many matches (away).”
Madrid travel to face Athletic Bilbao on Wednesday for a fourth consecutive league match on the road, a game moved because of the club’s participation in the Spanish Super Cup in January.
“The table will be hard-fought, there will be lots of movement. We’re playing for three points but it would be a good moment to win, in Bilbao,” added Alonso.
The Spanish coach brought centre-backs Eder Militao and Antonio Rudiger back after injury and maintained Brazilian forward Vinicius Junior in attack alongside Kylian Mbappe, who scored four at Olympiacos in the Champions League in midweek.
Mbappe and Arda Guler fired off target for Madrid early on in a hotly-contested but scrappy clash, in front of a raucous home crowd.
A poor Trent Alexander-Arnold pass allowed Girona forward Vladyslav Vanat in but his pass was intercepted when he might have opted to shoot.
