**_GIRONA_**: Real Madrid narrowed the gap on LaLiga leaders Barcelona to two points with a commanding 3-0 win at Girona thanks to goals from Jude Bellingham, Arda Guler and Kylian Mbappe
Second-placed Real have 36 points with a game in hand on Barca, who drew 2-2 at Real Betis. Girona suffered a sixth loss in 16 league matches and remain eighth on 22 points, two points off the European spots.
Bellingham opened the scoring in the 36th minute by capitalising on a loose ball and firing home from the centre of the box before setting up Guler with a fine through ball to double the lead 10 minutes after the break.
The England midfielder, who scored for a fifth consecutive LaLiga match, was having an outstanding game but was forced off after taking a knock shortly before Mbappe made it 3-0 with a shot from a tight angle in the 62nd to wrap up the win.
Real boss Ancelotti told reporters Bellingham was alright but they also lost full-back Ferland Mendy to a muscular problem ahead of their Champions League clash at Atalanta on Tuesday.
“(Bellingham) is fine, he is available. We’ve had the muscle injury to Mendy but the rest of it is just knocks, nothing more,” the Italian manager said.
Girona have struggled without key players through injury and now face difficult matches at home to Liverpool in the Champions League on Tuesday and away to Mallorca next Saturday in LaLiga.
“The team has suffered a lot of injuries. It’s costing us more. We still have months to keep growing,” Girona defender Miguel Gutierrez told Movistar.
“We have to keep going. We have two very important games. In the Champions League against Liverpool, we’re playing to get through. In LaLiga against Mallorca.”
Girona are 30th in the Champions League table, three points behind Real who are 24th and occupy the final qualifying spot for the playoffs.
**Barcelona held**
Leaders Barcelona had to settle for a 2-2 draw at mid-table Real Betis after substitute Assane Diao scored a stoppage-time equaliser to give Manuel Pellegrini cause to celebrate in his 500th LaLiga game as a manager.
Barca have 38 points from 17 matches but second-placed Real Madrid, who have 33 with two games in hand, can narrow the gap to two points if they win at Girona later on Saturday.
“We weren’t able to finish things off in the second half, to put the result beyond doubt. But we now look forward to the next game, there’s no time,” said Barcelona’s Ferran Torres, who got their second after Robert Lewandowski had put them 1-0 up.
The visitors created a number of chances early on and Lamine Yamal, making just his second start after a four-week absence with an ankle injury, was mostly in the thick of the action.
The 17-year-old caused numerous problems for Betis in the first half with his silky footwork and inventive passing.
Barca opened the scoring in the 39th minute through a flowing move orchestrated by Yamal and neatly finished by Lewandowski for his 16th league goal of the season.
Betis showed more intent after the break as Sergi Altimira and Abde Ezzalzouli sent headers just wide before the hosts’ pressure was rewarded with a penalty in the 68th minute.
Frenkie De Jong clattered into Barca loanee Vitor Roque and the spot kick was given after a VAR review, with visiting coach Hansi Flick being sent off for his vociferous protests.
Giovani Lo Celso stepped up to convert and level the match, but Barcelona regained the lead in the 82nd minute as Yamal’s brilliance once again shone through, with his well-disguised through ball finding its way to Torres who scored.
However, there was one final twist in a thrilling contest, and Pellegrini’s substitutions paid dividends as two of them combined for the equaliser, with Aitor Ruibal’s dangerous cross flicked into the net by Diao with a cheeky backheel.
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