Nightmare game for Girona goalie Gazzaniga as La Liga starts with Rayo Vallecano win

By Canadian Press on August 15, 2025.

MADRID (AP) — The first game in La Liga is already one to forget for Girona goalkeeper Paulo Gazzaniga.

His two embarrassing first half mistakes — one leading to a goal and the other to a penalty and his ejection — helped Rayo Vallecano win in Girona 3-1 in Friday’s season-opener.

“The way I see it, they were mistakes by Girona, we all made the mistakes together,” Girona coach Miguel Ángel Sánchez said. “The mistakes were so bad that we can only see them as accidents.”

The first blunder came in the 18th minute when a defender passed the ball back to Gazzaniga and the Argentine goalie couldn’t properly control the ball, which slipped passed him and allowed Rayo forward Jorge de Frutos to find the open net.

Gazzaniga’s second mistake came in the 43rd, after Rayo added to the lead through Álvaro García. The goalkeeper was pressured by De Frutos and tried to dribble past him at the edge of the area instead of clearing the ball away. De Frutos ended up with the ball and Gazzaniga had to grab him to keep the forward from scoring into another open net.

The foul led to a penalty kick and to a red card to Gazzaniga. Isi Palazón converted the penalty and gave the visitors a 3-0 lead by halftime.

Ten-man Girona pulled one closer with Joel Roca in the 57th.

The victory allowed Rayo to pick up from where it left off last season, when it earned a European place for the first time in more than two decades.

Rayo could have added to the lead in the second half but Pathé Ciss’ late goal was disallowed for offside.

Girona’s former Atletico Madrid player Thomas Lemar debuted as a second-half substitute. It was without Uruguayan striker Cristhian Stuani because of the death of his father.

Later Friday, Villarreal hosted promoted Oviedo.

Defending champion Barcelona opens at Mallorca on Saturday. Atletico Madrid is at Espanyol on Sunday, while Real Madrid hosts Osasuna on Tuesday for its first match of the season.

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Tales Azzoni, The Associated Press