Tag: Taty Castellanos

Taty Castellanos, still technically an MLS player, rings Real Madrid up for four goals

Castellanos is the fifth player ever to score four in one game on Real Madrid

Taty Castellanos, who is playing for Girona on loan from NYCFC, offered the perfect advertisement for MLS on Wednesday.

Castellanos stunned none other than Real Madrid, scoring four goals as Girona beat the defending European champions 4-2.

That makes him just the fifth player ever to score four goals in one game on Real Madrid. It also means that he’s scored four goals in a league match against Real Madrid as often as he did against all MLS teams (he hit Real Salt Lake for four in a 6-0 win in April 2022).

With Girona’s first serious look of the game, Castellanos snapped a header past Andriy Lunin after Miguel Gutiérrez clipped a teasing ball in from the left.

The second was more difficult, as Castellanos has to fight off Éder Militão to turn the most hopeful of long balls into anything at all. But fight he did, and after gaining position on the Brazilian, Castellanos held his ground long enough to slot past Lunin for a brace.

Real struck back through Vinícius Jr. before halftime, but just moments into the second half, a wide-open Castellanos made it a hat trick. Yan Couto raided down the right side, and all Castellanos had to do was keep his shot on target after Militão and Dani Carvajal both seemed to think the other had the Argentine striker marked.

Castellanos continued to terrorize Militão and hit a stunning fourth in the 63rd minute. Girona’s short-corner routine seemed to freeze Real’s zonal marking, and Castellanos bought himself a yard or so off of Militão’s back shoulder to head yet another goal past Lunin.

Lucas Vázquez would notch a late consolation goal for los Blancos, but the damage was done. Castellanos’ future value will likely go up demonstrably from this one performance, and the Blanquivermells climbed into ninth place thanks to the unlikely win.

Then again, if you ask their manager Michel, maybe it’s not such a shock.

“The difference between Girona and Madrid is not 24 points, we have already shown it at the Bernabéu and today at Montilivi,” Michel said in a post-match press conference. He might have a point, as Girona took a 1-1 draw in Madrid back in October.

“It was a dream night,” Castellanos told Movistar after the match. “We played a great game against one of the best in the world.”

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Adiós Taty: NYCFC loans Golden Boot winner to Girona FC

Castellanos scored 53 goals and added 19 assists during his time with the MLS Cup champions

New York City FC has announced that Valentín “Taty” Castellanos has been loaned to La Liga side Girona FC through June 2023.

Castellanos, last year’s MLS Golden Boot winner, has been publicly aiming for a European move for months and has now been sent to another team within the City Football Group family.

“I came to New York City four years ago and this experience has been everything I could have wanted. It was here where I grew up and took my game to the next level. MLS is a strong and extremely competitive league with fantastic quality,” Castellanos said in a NYCFC statement.

“While it is difficult to leave this club, I strongly believe that this is the right time for me to move to Europe which has always been a personal dream of mine. I feel confident and ready for a new challenge. I would like to thank NYCFC and Girona FC for giving me this opportunity and for finding a way for me to continue my journey and prove myself.”

Girona was promoted to La Liga after winning last season’s promotion playoffs in the Segunda División.

Castellanos won the 2021 MLS Golden Boot by scoring 19 regular-season goals, and then added three more in the postseason as NYCFC clinched an MLS Cup title.

This season, Castellanos again tops the league’s scoring charts with 13 goals.

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