European football: Real Madrid denied by Rayo Vallecano’s Raúl de Tomás

Real Madrid, who are leading the Spanish league, had a draw of 1-1 to their neighbours Rayo Vallecano on Sunday. Joselu scored a goal early in the match but Raúl de Tomás equalized it with a penalty kick. This result could add a little excitement to the title race with unexpected contenders Girona.

Real Madrid had a big win against Girona last week, which could have put Girona's chances of winning the title at risk. However, Real Madrid didn't perform well in their match against Vallecas, resulting in a draw. This puts Girona closer to them in the league standings. Currently, Real Madrid has 62 points, and they are six points ahead of Girona who will play their postponed match against Athletic Bilbao on Monday.

Real Madrid took the lead when Joselu scored a goal because the Rayo forward De Tomás missed a chance, which led to a fast counterattack for the visitors. Brahim Díaz made a great long pass to Federico Valverde, who had space on the right side of the field. Valverde then passed the ball to Joselu with a low cross, and the Spanish player only had to tap the ball into the goal since the goalkeeper was not there. Initially, the linesman thought Joselu was offside, but VAR quickly corrected the decision as he was actually onside.

Real Madrid had control of the game with a possession rate of up to 65%. However, they were inefficient and let the opposing team even the score in the 27th minute courtesy of De Tomás's penalty. This was awarded by VAR after it detected a handball committed by midfielder Eduardo Camavinga.

In the second half, Real dominated the game but were unable to score without the presence of Jude Bellingham, who was injured. As a result, the visiting team became dissatisfied with their performance. Towards the end of the match, Dani Carvajal, who had been substituted in the 75th minute, received two yellow cards within two minutes and was dismissed from play.

On the opposite side of the table, the lowest-ranked teams, Granada and Almería, had a match that ended in a tie of 1-1 at the Los Cármenes stadium. In the beginning of the game, Almería took the lead with a goal from Marc Pubill in the ninth minute. However, Granada managed to equalize the score with a goal from Myrto Uzuni in the last 15 minutes of the game.

Milan's chances of winning the Serie A title suffered a major setback as they lost 4-2 to Monza, who occupy a mid-table position. Milan were behind by two goals at half-time and were further disadvantaged when Luka Jovic received a red card just seven minutes into the second half. Nonetheless, Olivier Giroud initiated a revival, which was completed by Christian Pulisic's equaliser in the 88th minute. Despite fighting hard, Milan became visibly fatigued and subsequently fell behind to Warren Bondo's goal in the 90th minute, with Lorenzo Colombo wrapping things up five minutes later.

Bologna improved their chances of making it to the Champions League by making an impressive comeback and winning 2-1 against Lazio. Oussama El Azzouzi scored a goal to level the score for the visitors, after Gustav Isaksen had given an early lead to Maurizio Sarri's team. With only 12 minutes remaining, Joshua Zirkzee struck the winning goal, pushing Bologna's position up to fifth place.

Lazio had a 1-0 advantage over Bayern Munich in the first leg of the Champions League, but they are now behind by eight points in the competition for a top-four position. Similarly, Fiorentina lost their footing after a tie of 1-1 in the Tuscan derby against Empoli. Udinese and Cagliari, who are both fighting for survival, had a tie of 1-1.

Freiburg managed to secure a draw against Eintracht Frankfurt in the Bundesliga with a goal from Michael Gregoritsch, but it came very late in the game. The match was interrupted during the second half due to fans causing chaos. They flew remote-controlled planes around the stadium and threw sweets on the pitch behind one of the goals, causing a disturbance.

Brest, the team that came in second in France, managed to stay in the running for the Champions League even though they had one player, Steve Mounie, sent off during their game against Marseille. Despite playing with only 10 men for 30 minutes, Brest was able to score the winning goal thanks to Pierre-Lees Melou, who scored with only two minutes left in the game at Stade Francis Le Blé. Unfortunately for Marseille, who is currently in mid-table, they were not able to score a goal in response. Brest is currently trailing PSG, the current league leaders, by 13 points.

Monaco lost 2-1 to Toulouse in a game played at Stade Louis II on Sunday. Vincent Sierro and Logan Costa each scored a goal in the first and second half respectively, helping Toulouse to feel more relieved about their chances of avoiding relegation from Ligue 1.

Monaco have dropped to fourth place on the Ligue 1 table with only 38 points from 22 matches following their defeat. Meanwhile, Toulouse is now placed 13th, narrowly avoiding the relegation playoff position by just one point. Other noteworthy matches in the league include Rennes' 3-1 win against Clermont, Reims and Lens resulting in a draw at 1-1, and Lorient's win against Strasbourg, which has given them renewed hope in avoiding relegation.