Topics: La Liga, Girona, Real Madrid, Valentin Castellano
The MLS loanee etched his name into the Spanish league's record books with his performance against Real Madrid.

Valentin 'Taty' Castellanos put up a remarkable performance on Tuesday, scoring four goals against La Liga giants Real Madrid. The striker, currently on loan from from Major League Soccer club New York City FC, etched his name into La Liga's history books by becoming the first player in the 21st century to scorea poker against Los Blancos in the competition. 

Real Madrid went into Tuesday night's encounter without talisman Karim Benzema and first-choice goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois and were put into a rather uncomfortable position with Girona taking the lead in the early minutes of the proceedings. Castellanos, who was in the spotlight, opened the scoring by heading the ball into the net in the 12th minute, and then received a long ball and finished past Real's goalkeeper Andriy Lunin to double his tally in the 24th minute.

Ahead of half-time, Vinicius Jr gave Real a glimmer of hope by scoring a header from a cross delivered by Marco Asensio. However, Castellanos restored the two-goal advantage once more by scoring his third goal with a tap-in at the end of Yan Couto's cross. The NYCFC then added his fourth by heading the ball in, before Lucas Vazquez scored another consolation goal for Real.

With his contribution, Castellanos - who now has 11 goals in the league - made history by becoming the first player in more than 75 years to score four goals in a single La Liga match against Real Madrid. The last player to accomplish the feat was Esteban Echaverria who scored five goals for Real Oviedo against Madrid in December 1947. The 24-year-old striker is also the second Argentine to score four goals against Real Madrid in a single match, with Diego Milito being the first to do so in 2006.

Meanwhile, the charge to retain the league crown is practically over for Real Madrid who are currently 11 points behind leaders Barcelona. The Meregues, who have also played a game more than Los Blaugrana, are set to face Manchester City in the first leg of the Champions League semi-finals in two weeks.