Real Madrid vs Celta Vigo Review
A brace from Williot Swedberg and determined defending by Celta Vigo shocked 9-man Real Madrid as Os Celestes secured a 2-0 victory in La Liga, marking their first league win at the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu since November 2006. Pablo Durán had the game’s first shot blocked by Fran García following excellent play from Bryan Zaragoza. Real Madrid eventually created their first chance from a corner, with both Éder Militão and Jude Bellingham going up for a header that was saved by Ionuț Radu. Militão faced further setbacks as he had to leave the game due to injury after making a crucial challenge to stop Durán.
Celta continued to perform strongly, making it tough for Los Blancos to break through their defense. This forced Bellingham and Antonio Rüdiger to take speculative shots that didn’t yield results, until Arda Güler took a long-range shot that at least tested Radu. Güler then had a rare clear chance after good play from Vinícius Júnior and Kylian Mbappé set him up, but the Turkish international’s shot went wide. Durán was then released but was denied again at the other end, and Vinícius had an instinctive attempt saved after finally getting behind the visitors’ defense.
Radu had to make another save shortly after the second half began when Federico Valverde unleashed a powerful shot, but it was Celta who scored first in the 54th minute. After Zaragoza was isolated, the visitors cautiously joined the attack, allowing the winger to pass to Swedberg, who scored with a brilliant flick after coming on at halftime to replace Durán. Things worsened for the hosts just after the hour mark when F. García received two quick bookings for unnecessary fouls. This energized Los Blancos’ play, but Vinícius had one shot blocked and another curl just wide.
The home team kept pressing, and Mbappé’s delicate effort came agonizingly close but hit the crossbar, followed by missed headers from Aurélien Tchouaméni and Gonzalo García. In the end, Swedberg calmly rounded Thibaut Courtois to secure Celta’s fourth straight away win in La Liga, also ending Real Madrid’s eight-match unbeaten streak in the league.
The hosts’ troubles worsened just before the second goal when Álvaro Carreras, like F. García earlier, received two quick bookings and was sent off, leaving his team with nine players. This result puts Los Blancos four points behind Barcelona at the top of the table, and they have now won only two of their last seven matches across all competitions, increasing the pressure on Xabi Alonso.
