This season, Jude Bellingham scored 15 league goals for Real Madrid, making him the first player in this century to do so. The team beat their closest La Liga rivals by four goals, taking a huge step towards the title.
Vinicus scored the first goal at the Santiago Bernabeu on Saturday night, and Bellingham scored in the first half to make it 2-0 to Madrid over Girona. Vinicus was named the game’s best player. First, he scored a second goal after the break. Then, he left the game because of an ankle injury, which Madrid hopes won’t keep them out of their last-16 Champions League game next week against RB Leipzig.
‘Hey Jude’ was heard all over the stadium when he got his second and limped off. It wasn’t just in the loud South End.
It seemed crazy to compare him to Zinedine Zidane when he first came up last summer, but the Frenchman never scored more than nine goals in a league season. With most of the second half of the season still to go, Bellingham now has 16.
Girona is only two points behind Real Madrid in the table, which makes this game feel like a title decider. This is an amazing feat in football for a team that is only in its fourth season in the top flight.
But Madrid was too hot for them to handle, and Bellingham, who was great, wasn’t even the best player for the home team. That honour went to Vinicius.
He set up the first goal seven minutes in, which was the first goal from outside the area that Girona had given up all season.He missed the last Real Madrid game because he had to leave late because his neck hurt during warm-ups. He cut in from the left and put the ball into the top corner from the edge of the area. This was Girona’s time to hurt. 
There were four defenders around him, and a Girona player on each corner, but they all did nothing as his shot went in. The guests had the first few possessions, but Vinicius scored the game’s first goal out of nothing.
This summer, Kylian Mbappe is almost certain to move to Madrid. However, he might have to play through the middle instead of his preferred starting spot, which is coming off the left foot and onto his right, because Vinicius is the best player in the world at doing that.
What should Bellingham do if Mbappe plays through the middle? Vitus made a great pass to him in the second half that Luka Modric would have been proud of. He had Yan Couto in front of him, but the Brazilian bent the ball around him and right into the path of the running England midfielder, whose run had split Girona’s defenders in the middle. Bellingham dropped his shoulder, went around custodian Paulo Gazzaniga and scored from a close range.
Madrid’s starting eleven, which didn’t have a single centre defender, didn’t have to worry as much after the early goals. Antonio Rudiger has been having a hard time since he rushed through Mason Greenwood and got hurt more than the Getafe striker. He didn’t even make the starting lineup. Carlo Ancelotti had to put full-back Dani Carvajal and playmaker Aurelien Tchouameni in the middle of the back four because David Alaba, Eder Militao, and Nacho were all out for a while with injuries. In the first half, they didn’t have to deal with any problems.
When the game started again, Miguel Gutierrez got forward from left back and had Girona’s first shot on goal. Andriy Lunin had to palm away a dangerous cross from the player who used to play for Madrid’s youth team. Madrid still has a chance to sign him for 8 million euros.
Manchester City has signed Brazilian winger Savinho until the end of the season. He then skipped past Lucas Vazquez as Michel’s team continued to play better in the first few minutes of the second half than the whole first half.
This season, Girona has been the queen of comebacks. They are very tough, but against Bellingham and Vinicius, it was all for nothing. Bellingham hurt his left ankle earlier in the game, and Ancelotti was about to take him off because he was worried. But Bellingham still had one more goal in him. 
There were Girona players all around Vinicus again, but this time he got away from them on the right wing. Gazzaniga stopped his cross, but Bellingham tapped it in from close range.
He was replaced right away by Brahim Diaz, and “Hey Jude” rang through the stadium as he left to blow kisses to the Madrid fans he has known since his first game.
Even though they lost Bellingham, Madrid was still very dangerous. While getting a wrap on his ankle on the bench, Rodrygo scored the fourth goal by rushing forward after Vinicus won the ball back.
After Arda Guler was fouled, Joselu missed the game’s last penalty kick. It was time for it to end for Girona, and when the penalty kick hit the post, it did. The Spanish title race may be the same way.