Valentin Castellanos scored all four goals as Girona stunned Real Madrid at home to all but end their challenge for La Liga this year.
Vinicius Jr and Lucas Vaquez managed to get on the scoresheet for Real during the 4-2 loss which sees them stay 11 points behind leaders Barcelona who now have a game in hand.
The defending champions fell behind after just 12 minutes with Castellanos beating Andriy Lunin with a header following a cross from Miguel Gutierrez. The Argentine doubled his side’s lead 12 minutes later, latching onto a long ball and firing a shot past the Ukranian keeper.
Vinicius gave Real Madrid hope of a comeback by reducing the deficit in the 34th minute after being left unmarked at the far post and putting away Marco Asensio’s cross.
Things, however, went awry for Madrid in the second half with Castellanos taking just 36 seconds after the restart to complete his hattrick before scoring his fourth in the 62nd minute with another header.
The Argentine became the first player to score four goals against Madrid in a La Liga game since 1947.
Lucas Vazquez managed to score a second consolation goal for Real Madrid in the 85th minute before Girona easily saw out the game.
Madrid’s defeat leaves them on 65 points from 31 games meaning league leaders Barcelona can move 14 points clear at the top with a win over Rayo Vallecano in their next fixture.
