Inside Spain is a weekly instalment brought to you by Football España, providing an insight into all of the major stories coming out of the rich and intense climes of La Liga and beyond.
Real Madrid returned to action after the Christmas break and continued at the summit of the table in 2024, with Antonio Rudiger’s header the difference against Real Mallorca. The bizarre thing is, Girona are still right there with him.
After Atletico Madrid came from behind twice, levelling up from 3-1 down, it looked as if they would be dropping points, but Ivan Martin’s stoppage time winner ensured Girona kept the pace with Real Madrid in a 4-3 win. Atleti are all but out of the race, now looking at a ten-point gap to the top two.
Barcelona survived another disappointing performance with a stoppage time penalty from Ilkay Gundogan, earning them a 2-1 win over Las Palmas, and keeping them within seven points of the leaders. New Brazilian striker Vitor Roque made his debut, but passed up two opportunities to kill the game, making Xavi Hernandez wince in the process. He knows it is unlikely they will be able to reinfore elsewhere with funds tight.
Ancelotti was not impressed with his players last night. #RealMadrid pic.twitter.com/9s945Utwol
— Football España (@footballespana_) January 4, 2024
For once, it wasn’t Jude Bellingham scoring, but already Los Blancos are looking to ease the pressure on him to do so. However they have already found themselves back in a Kylian Mbappe saga, in spite of their desire to avoid it. Following Mbappe’s statements, it remains to be seen if they have the strength to pull out.
The reason they remain top though is their defence. Despite the absences of Eder Militao, David Alaba and Thibaut Courtois, Real Madrid are on course for their best season at the back since 1962. In comparison to the sharp end of the pitch, Carlo Ancelotti says they will not be strengthening their defence, despite being down to just Rudiger and Nacho Fernandez.
Elsewhere, everyone is interested in Girona’s players, Ernesto Valverde of Athletic Club brought up 500 La Liga games as a manager, celebrating with a 2-0 win over Sevilla, and a place in the top four. The highlight of the evening was Sergio Ramos’ rant at a fan mid-interview. Across the city, Real Betis are doing what they can to hold onto Sporting Director Ramon Planes in the face of interest from Saudi Arabia.
On a more serious note, Dani Alves’ mother, Lucia, could be in legal trouble. With Dani Alves’ pending rape trial set for February, Lucia Alves released footage of the alleged victim on social media, and it was distributed by various Brazlian outlets. The footage was taken from the victim’s social media, and the prosecution have starrted legal action against Lucia Alves, who has broken the law, disobeyed the judge, and potentially endangered the victim, in a particularly low attempt to damage her credibility.
Image via Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno/Getty Images
