Real Madrid played another match against Celta de Vigo on Sunday to keep their LaLiga hopes alive, especially knowing that FC Barcelona had won their match against Valladolid on Saturday night. For that reason, and because the Whites were already seven points behind the leaders at the start of this match, Ancelotti ‘s men have no more chances. In the end, Real Madrid won 3-2 with goals from Arda Güler and Mbappé, after controlling the game from the first half.
Real Madrid got off to a flying start with two great goals against Celta at the Bernabéu.
Nor to recover from the defeat in the Copa del Rey final, as LaLiga enters its most important phase. El Clásico will, in theory, be the key day to decide who will win the title, but after Barça’s victory in Valladolid, if the Whites failed against Celta, they would hand the title to Barça on a plate.
Ancelotti started the match with seven players out, five of them in defense: the long-term absentees Carvajal and Militao, but also the recent additions of Alaba, Rüdiger, and Mendy. Camavinga and Rodrygo were also unavailable.
With this scenario, Ancelotti has turned to Tchouaméni as center back for this matchday 34 league game against Celta Vigo, something that has already happened several times due to injuries. The Frenchman was one yellow card away from missing next weekend’s Clásico. The same goes for Lucas and Ceballos, who are also starters against the Galicians.
To this end, the Italian coach opted for a 4-4-2 formation with Bellingham behind Mbappé and Vinicius and with the new addition of Arda Güler in a midfield that includes the ever-present Fede Valverde. Compared to the team that played in the Copa del Rey final, Fran García, Arda Güler, and Mbappé came in for Mendy, Rüdiger, and Rodrygo.
The match itself started in an intense manner for Real Madrid, knowing that Celta Vigo were not going to make it easy for them. This had already been seen in matches such as when they faced FC Barcelona (4-3), when they not only took the lead against the Catalans, but were even a few minutes away from taking the victory.
From the outset, it was clear that Giráldez’s Celta side are a very daring team, and this was evident from the opening minutes. They demonstrated this with a clear chance from a set piece. It came from some poor defending by Madrid from a set piece, where Marcos Alonso came close to making it 0-1 for Celta. He was left too unmarked.
The minutes passed and the score remained unchanged at the Santiago Bernabéu. However, although Celta tried to press, Real Madrid began to take control of the attack, especially through Vinicius. Unlike in previous games, the Brazilian took charge and Celta found it harder to keep possession.
And it was from a move like this that the Whites scored their first goal, courtesy of Arda Güler. The Turkish player had not been involved much in the game, but he is a player who can make a difference. He struck the ball spectacularly, scoring a great goal into the top corner. It was a goal that delighted the Bernabéu crowd, who were gradually enjoying what they were seeing.
A few minutes later, Real Madrid were looking more and more comfortable, and that was when Mbappé scored the second goal with a shot that went into the top corner. Real Madrid were increasingly comfortable on the pitch against a Celta Vigo side who were just waiting for the minutes to pass until half-time. Giráldez needed new ideas for his team, although there were plenty of chances for the visitors. If it hadn’t been for Courtois, the Celestes could have gone into the break two goals down.
Celta woke up and could have equalized
In the first half, Madrid looked comfortable thanks to great goals from Arda Güler and Mbappé… and Courtois’ saves, who prevented Celta from scoring twice with two spectacular stops. The game started in flames, with chances in both areas, but little by little, the Whites’ finishing prevailed.
And yes, right here, at the start of the second half, the goals that seemed to be taking forever to arrive finally started to come. Once again, it was Arda Güler who provided the perfect assist for Mbappé, who let the ball run, stood in front of Guaita and struck it with his left foot into the far corner.
It was a good goal from Mbappé against a Celta side that was having a few more problems in defense than they had in the first 45 minutes. So, regardless of what happened in the rest of the match, with the score at 3-0, it looked like the game was almost over and Real Madrid was back in the fight for LaLiga. The next clásico was shaping up to be an exciting one. But it wasn’t going to be that easy.
The minutes ticked by and while Güler and Mbappé wreaked havoc on their opponents, Celta had little left to offer Real Madrid. The Celeste moves weren’t coming, the passes were being cut off and Courtois, unlike in the first half, had little to do after an hour of play.
However, it seemed that Celta wanted to wake up. They did so first with Javi Rodríguez, who was the most active player from the 65th minute onwards. In fact, it was Javi Rodríguez himself who could have scored the second before Swedberg did. Giráldez’s men were not only one goal away from equalizing, but they were even on the verge of taking the lead against Madrid. It was a trademark backheel from Iago Aspas that set up Pablo Durán, who found himself almost unmarked in front of Courtois and came close to making it 3-3.
Real Madrid, since replacing Asencio, were more out of the game than in it. Lucas Vázquez was also off target, and in the 83rd minute, it was easier for the visitors to score the equalizer than for Real Madrid to score their fourth goal.
Real Madrid left many gaps that the Vigo team took advantage of every time. It happened again with Swedberg, with five minutes to go and stoppage time already underway, when he once again found Courtois in goal, who was having much more work to do than usual in the second half. Only Mbappé had a final chance to score with a volley, but there was also a scare from Hugo Álvarez, who was desperate to equalize for his team.