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Real Madrid beat Villarreal 4-1 to go above Girona in the La Liga standings.
Girona play Alaves on Monday night, and a win will see them return to the top of the table.
Real Madrid have now established a 7-point gap over Barcelona who are 4th in the league, and Carlo Ancelotti has admitted that Girona are Madrid’s biggest rival as it stands.
Ancelotti said after the Villarreal victory: “Girona is our biggest rival at this point. The LaLiga season is very long and it will be hard fought until the end, with Barcelona and Atlético too.”
Ancelotti was very pleased following Real Madrid’s win over Villarreal on La Liga matchday 17.
The Italian said: “ It was a complete performance by the whole team and there was an extraordinary level of collective commitment on display.
“The individual moments of brilliance were key, like Modrić’s pass to Bellingham. The latter just keeps on scoring, there was a goal for Rodrygo to and of course, Brahim’s wonderful individual goal. “He put the icing on the cake of a superb defensive performance.”
“This isn’t a statement. We’re doing a good job and today was one of our best games, particularly in terms of our defensive press.”
