As the Spanish league season reaches its midway point, Real Madrid and Girona have continued their remarkable streaks to lead the rankings.

After 19 games, both teams won on Wednesday to tie for third position with 48 points, ten points behind Atletico Madrid. In a tiebreaker, Girona lost to Real Madrid. If Barcelona prevails on Thursday at Las Palmas, it would catch up to the leaders by seven points.

With a late goal from Antonio Rüdiger, Madrid defeated Mallorca 1-0 at home in a game that saw Vinícius Júnior make his comeback from injury.

Girona, the unexpected champion in Spanish soccer this year, upset Atletico 4-3, with Iván Martín scoring the game-winning goal in stoppage time.

Atletico Madrid’s Álvaro Morata scored a hat trick, and Antoine Griezmann was kept scoreless to share the lead in club goals scored all time (173) with Luis Aragonés.

Girona proved it can be taken seriously as a legitimate title contender by defeating Diego Simeone’s Atletico when faced with yet another challenging task.

After dodging several Atletico players within the box, Martín scored the game-winning goal one minute into stoppage time with a left-footed shot into the top corner.

Up until Morata completed his hat trick with an equalizer in the 54th, the hosts led 3-1. Girona’s other goals came from Valery Fernández, Savinho, and Daley Blind at Montilivi Stadium.

Míchel’s team leads the league in goals scored with 46, four more than Real Madrid. Girona’s record is 15 victories, 3 draws, and 1 loss, which came against Real Madrid.

It proceeded on a 13-game winning streak across all competitions following that September home loss to Madrid by a score of 3-0. It secured a resounding 4-2 victory over reigning champion Barcelona last month.

“We’ll continue, match by match,” declared Martín. “We need to maintain our momentum and aim to gain as many points as we can since we are getting close to securing a spot in Europe. We’ll then assess our position at the conclusion of the season.”

MADRID KEEPS PUSHING

Following a nearly two-month absence due to a muscular injury, Vinícius returned to action. However, the Spanish powerhouse struggled offensively until Rüdiger broke the deadlock in the 78th minute with a header into the top corner following a well-placed corner kick taken by Luka Modric.

“I´m very happy because it was an important goal and an important three points for us,” Rüdiger stated.

With this outcome, Madrid has now gone 18 games without a loss across all competitions since suffering a 3-1 league setback to Atletico in September. In a season where it has won 21 games and drawn three, that was the team’s only defeat.

After missing the net twice at Santiago Bernabeu Stadium, Mallorca managed to hold onto 14th place, four points above the relegation zone. The group led by Mexican manager Javier Aguirre had triumphed over Osasuna and Sevilla in the previous two league games.

Vinícius had not participated in a match since November due to a leg muscle injury sustained during a World Cup qualifying match for Brazil. On Wednesday, he had two good opportunities, but he missed them.

Defender Dani Carvajal returned for Madrid, but long-term knee ailments kept coach Carlo Ancelotti without several important players, including defenders David Alaba and Éder Militão and goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois.