La Liga leaders Barcelona stumbled 1-0 at home against Leganes on Sunday as they suffered another blow in the Spanish title race.
Diego Simeone's side have been in fine form and continued their winning run across all competitions with a deserved home triumph, pulling provisionally level with league leaders Barcelona.
Real missed the chance to move above leaders Barcelona in LaLiga as they stay second on 37 points from 17 matches, one behind the Catalans who host Leganes on Sunday when Atletico, in third place on 35 from 16 games, welcome Getafe.
The 23-year-old was forced off with a muscle injury in their 4-0 thrashing of Osasuna at the Bernabeu earlier in November
"We changed the position of the forwards, with Mbappe outside and he did well, like Vinicius inside," said Ancelotti.
Raphinha and Robert Lewandowski's goals put the Catalans in a healthy position but Marc Casado's red card in the 82nd minute helped Celta start the fightback to snatch a point.
Barcelona coach Hansi Flick said Friday he would ask his players if they can win without injured teenage winger Lamine Yamal.
Lewandowski's early disallowed strike led to furious debate over whether the Polish forward had been offside or not.
Hammered by Barcelona in a league Clasico and then outplayed by AC Milan in the Champions League, Carlo Ancelotti's side badly needed this confidence-boosting victory.
Girona have been the surprise package of the season and have stretched their unbeaten streak to 11 league games.
Girona, part-owned by the owners of Manchester City, opened up a two-point lead over Real Madrid after a straightforward victory.
Carlo Ancelotti's side are a point ahead of Catalan minnows Girona, who host Alaves on Monday and will be looking to reclaim pole position.
La Liga champions Barcelona dropped more points in the Spanish title race in a tense 1-1 draw at Valencia on Saturday.
Girona defeated their Catalan rivals for the first time ever in the top flight in a pulsating battle to rise two points above Real Madrid, second, after their 1-1 draw at Real Betis on Saturday.
Leaders Real Madrid stumbled to a 1-1 draw at Real Betis on Saturday as Aitor Ruibal's brilliant strike cancelled out Jude Bellingham's league-best 12th goal of the season.
Real Madrid right-back Dani Carvajal is expected to miss the rest of the year after the club announced Monday he suffered a calf injury in the weekend win over Granada.
Coach Michel is determined to enjoy Girona's "history-making" La Liga run after Saturday's 2-1 win over Valencia 2-1 and not think about the title race because his team are "not at that level".
Real Madrid did enough to beat lowly Granada 2-0 in LaLiga on Saturday, a game that will not live long in the memory of an underwhelmed Santiago Bernabeu Stadium crowd on a chilly evening in the Spanish capital.
Barcelona coach Xavi Hernandez called on Joao Felix to use criticism from his former Atletico Madrid team-mates to motivate him when the teams meet on Sunday in La Liga.
