Taty Castellanos scores four goals against Real Madrid, while Real Sociedad holds off Betis.

The Argentine striker, who was on loan at Girona from New York City FC, which is owned by the City group, exposed weaknesses in Madrid’s defence ahead of their Champions League semi-final match against Manchester City in May.
After a poor night in front of goal at Camp Nou, Castellanos shut down his social media accounts, but thanked those close to him for their support. It was a dream night, Castellanos said. We had a great game against one of the best teams in the world, it was a dream night.
I never imagined this, (I’m) enjoying it with our fans, with the people who have sent me support — my family, people in Argentina, they are always supporting me, and that’s fundamental.
Castellanos scored four goals for New York City against Real Salt Lake in April 2022 and repeated the feat a little more than a year later. Obviously, they are different days, it was a dream to score against Madrid, and to score four — you can’t even imagine it, he added.
I’m very happy for everything, for the fans, for the lads. Castellanos has 11 goals in 29 La Liga appearances this season. Ancelotti had stated that his team needed to maintain a positive winning dynamic in the league in order to remain at the top of their game in Europe, but they failed miserably in Girona.
A tough night, yes, when you lose a game like that, it’s a tough night, the Italian admitted. It was a bad defensive game, and that was the key to the match… the individual level was also lower than usual.
Everyone’s was, not just a few. The level was very low because we had forgotten about our defensive aspect, which had been very good in recent games. Absentees Ancelotti was hampered by striker Karim Benzema’s injury in the weekend’s win over Celta Vigo, while keeper Thibaut Courtois did not travel due to a stomach problem, among other absences.
Former Real Madrid defender Miguel Gutierrez set up the first goal, which Castellanos headed home from six yards out after 12 minutes. After 24 minutes, Castellanos doubled Girona’s lead by sneaking in behind Eder Militao and blasting through Andriy Lunin’s legs.
With a header from Marco Asensio’s fine inswinging cross, Vinicius Junior gave Real Madrid hope for a second-half comeback. However, Castellanos scored his third goal just 36 seconds after the break, thanks to a fine run and cross from Yan Couto.
After 62 minutes, the striker capitalised on another Militao error to score his and Girona’s fourth goal. After more good work by Vinicius, Lucas Vazquez pulled another back for Madrid late on, but it was too little, too late.
Sociedad maintains its position.Real Sociedad dug deep to earn a goalless draw with Real Betis, securing their place in the Champions League for next season.
It was a game with few clear chances, but Sergio Canales could have put Betis ahead after 74 minutes, shooting inches wide after good work by Juan Miranda. At the other end, Rui Silva saved well from Real Sociedad midfielder Mikel Merino’s drive deep into stoppage time.
Betis had the better of the second half but were unable to find the winning goal that their fans yearned for, and will now travel to champions-in-waiting Barcelona on Saturday.
Osasuna defeated Cadiz 1-0 thanks to Ruben Garcia’s long-range goal, despite having winger Ez Abde sent off late in the game, just minutes after coming off the bench.