After the Champions League, Europa League, and Conference matches, LaLiga is back, and FC Barcelona is back in action this Saturday against Celta de Vigo. Both teams are at the top of the table, and while the Catalans want to get closer to the title, the Galicians are in European positions, which they do not want to leave. Here, the Catalans made some small rotations that worked well from the start.
FC Barcelona did not have the best start to the match against Celta Vigo.
So much so that it was Ferrán Torres who opened the scoring in the 12th minute to put Hansi Flick’s side ahead. But Celta did not let themselves be intimidated, at times taking a 1-3 lead until FC Barcelona achieved madness and victory with a final penalty goal by Raphinha (4-3).
All in all, the home side remain at the top of the table, seven points ahead of Atlético Madrid and four ahead of Real Madrid. Giráldez’s Celta Vigo are seventh and fighting for a European place against Mallorca, Real Sociedad, and Rayo Vallecano.
In Barcelona, they knew that if there is one team that has made them suffer in LaLiga, it is undoubtedly Celta. This is especially true at Balaídos, but there have also been several games where the Celta team has taken one or even all three points on visits to Camp Nou.
Against this backdrop, the Azulgranas have put together an unbeatable run of results, reflecting their good form and position over several matchdays. The last game in which they failed to score in the league this season was at the end of December 2024 at home against Atlético Madrid, with Sorloth scoring in injury time (90’+6). Since then, FC Barcelona have become stronger than ever.
The Catalans started the game with great intensity and Lewandowski had a chance to score the first goal in the second minute, but without much luck. As the minutes passed, Flick’s team kept getting closer and closer to the goal, until the 12th minute. Then, Ferrán Torres took the lead with a good goal from a cross-shot.
But what they didn’t expect was that their sky blue rivals would have so many good chances and manage to put up a good fight, scaring Szczesny’s goal in the process. And no sooner said than done, Borja Iglesias’ “Panda” appeared to score the equalizer three minutes after Ferrán’s goal. The Galician player took advantage of Szczesny’s poor clearance to convert Pablo Durán’s cross into the box and level the score. It was a great move by Celta and a great pass from Marcos Alonso to Pablo Durán that started the move.
From then on, the game started again, but FC Barcelona did not apply enough pressure, allowing Giráldez to take advantage of any space to get forward and offer a fairly complete first half with serious chances to break the deadlock.
Throughout this time, the home side felt that Fermín López was not making the impact he should have been. Barça missed his play between the lines. Celta defended well, with Szczesny coming to the rescue on two occasions to prevent Ilaix Moriba and Pablo Duran from scoring.
A spectacular Borja Iglesias put Celta ahead…
After the break, although FC Barcelona dominated possession, Hansi Flick was quite disappointed. He did not like the first half from a sluggish Barça side, who failed to find their best form against a good Celta Vigo side.
In the second half, FC Barcelona repeated the script from the first half, with a lot of possession but without really putting the Celta defense under pressure. It was once again Borja Iglesias who took advantage of a great move by Celta de Vigo, surprising everyone to score the second goal for the sky blue team and putting them ahead of FC Barcelona in the 52nd minute with a low shot.
It was at that moment that Celta began to believe in themselves, increasingly taking control of the game. So much so that Giráldez’s men grew in confidence, until Borja Iglesias himself scored the third for the Galicians and his hat trick.
…Until FC Barcelona managed to save the game and score two goals in less than 10 minutes
He picked up the pass to Panda with Barça in complete disarray. The Celta striker took advantage of Carreira’s clearance and found himself one-on-one with Szczesny, lifting his head and finishing beautifully past the Polish goalkeeper. Hat-trick for Borja Iglesias.
From then on, it was madness. Just as Borja Iglesias was about to score the third, Dani Olmo played a one-two with Raphinha to make it 2-3… and in less than 10 minutes, Hansi Flick’s side managed to equalize with a superb goal from Raphinha, who was set up by Koundé for Lamine Yamal to cross into the box from the right and finish past Guaita.
With five minutes left in the game, FC Barcelona looked for every possible opening to get the whole team involved. From Koundé, who had an impeccable game, to Lamine Yamal and Raphinha. FC Barcelona was in a hurry, desperate not to drop a single point in a LaLiga that is more competitive than ever.
Raphinha’s penalty to break the deadlock
Celta were barely able to keep the ball. Giráldez’s team wanted to keep possession a little longer, but there were no clear passes. They were forced to defend constantly, suffocated by the constant pressure from their opponents.
In added time, the game heated up. Two actions were protested by both teams, the second involving Aspas, who wanted to continue the play, and Raphinha, who got tangled up with the visiting captain. Finally, after a few moments of uncertainty in front of the VAR, the referee showed Fer López a yellow card and awarded a penalty.
In the end, Raphinha made no mistake from the spot. He fired with his left foot and the ball flew into the top corner of Celta’s goal. Flick’s team rounded off the madness at Montjuic with a victory that could well be worth the league title.