Taty, four times! Thanks to an incredible quadruple from Taty Castellanos, the promoted Girona overwhelmed Real Madrid 4-2 at home on Tuesday for the 31st day of La Liga, thus preventing Real from believing in their last chances of contesting the title at FC Barcelona. Xavi’s men can thank their Catalan neighbor.
24-year-old Argentinian center forward Valentin “Taty” Castellanos, on loan from New York City to the Catalan club this season, pierced the wall of the “White House” four times: in the 12th minute, with a header. In the 24th, taking advantage of an error in judgment by Eder Militao to spin against. In the 46th minute, a few seconds after the return from the locker room, by taking over from the right a ball centered by Yan Couto and left spun by Ivan Martin. And in the 62nd, from the head, again, after a combination on a corner.
Vinicius’ goal, half an hour into the game (34th), from a header to receiving a center from Marco Asensio at the far post, and his assist for Lucas Vazquez, in the 85th, were not enough to keep Real afloat, who suffered their sixth defeat of the season in La Liga.
“It’s a dream night. We are playing against one of the best teams in the world, and I could not have imagined that. Scoring against Real Madrid was already a dream, so scoring four goals, I let you imagine…”, blew the Argentinian at the final whistle.
With this quadruple, Castellanos becomes the sixth player in the history of the Spanish championship to score four goals against Real Madrid, and the first since December 21, 1947 (Esteban Echevarría with Oviedo, according to the Spanish statistician MisterChip). He even surpasses illustrious players like Lionel Messi or Luis Suarez, who only scored “one” hat-trick against the “White House”.
In April 2013, Robert Lewandowski, now at Barça, had slammed four goals in the semi-final first leg of the Champions League with Borussia Dortmund against Madrid. With these four goals, Castellanos therefore inflates his total to eleven goals scored this season in the league.
Attractive since the start of the season, Girona, led by Michel, had already drawn a 1-1 draw at the Bernabéu on October 30 in the first leg. And the promoted continues his good season in La Liga, currently in 9th place (41 points), six points from the qualifying places for European competitions. For Real, on the other hand, this defeat is a big blow before the final sprint of the season.
Carlo Ancelotti, deprived of certain executives including captain Karim Benzema (victim of a blow) and goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois (gastroenteritis), had decided to give playing time to second knives… but Real, although sometimes superior in the game, sank in defense.
The Brazilian central defender Eder Militao, brilliant all season, notably faltered Tuesday evening in Catalonia, chaining error after error. And Courtois’ understudy, Andriy Lunin, did not provide the necessary guarantees.
Only Vinicius, merengue side, pulled out of the game: heckled by Arnau Martinez, the Brazilian pulled himself together to express his talent on the ground, and offered a full match.
With this setback, Real Madrid stalls in second place in the standings, and offers FC Barcelona the opportunity to take a fourteen-point lead eight days from the end: the Catalans move on Wednesday (10:00 p.m.) on the lawn Rayo Vallecano to take a huge step closer to the coronation.