Last night, Real Madrid returned to their home turf to face Celta Vigo after a six match stint away but sadly it was not quite the homecoming they were hoping for. Instead, for the first time in 19 years, the Bernabeu became Celta’s winning stage as they snatched a 2-0 victory.
While neither team came into last night’s match on particularly good standings, there was certainly more pressure on the men in white to reestablish themselves after their rather lacklustre recent performances, and put themselves back in reach of league contention.
Since their last match at home, Real Madrid’s performance rather declined with a loss against Liverpool and draws against Rayo, Elche and Girona. However, their 3-0 performance against Athletic Club last week suggested they may be returning to form. Sadly, tonight’s performance went about as far from the plan as possible.
Immediately out of the gates, Real Madrid struggled to find their rhythm or team synergy. This was further disrupted in the 20th minute when Militão had to retire from the match with a shoulder injury. The first half continued at a mostly slow pace, only picking up around the 33rd minute.
Os Celestes made things very difficult for the men in white as they had bodies on Mbappé and Bellingham throughout, preventing them from being involved much. Because of this, many of Real Madrid’s attacking plays ended up being shut down.
In the 33rd and 37th minute, Arda Güler managed to get close to the Celta goal but neither attempt was converted. At the very end of the half, after being fouled in the area, Mbappé had a chance to pull his team ahead with a free kick but frustratingly directed his shot straight to the Radu’s hands.
In the second half, things went from bad to worse for Los Blancos. Despite Valverde coming straight out of the blocks with a very convincing long shot, it was only 8 minutes later that Celta claimed their first goal. Williot managed to slip a nifty backheel past Courtois to clinch his first goal of the season. That was the turning point for Real Madrid, and not in a good way.
The rest of the half saw increasingly desperate play from Real Madrid as the pressure to equalise intensified. However, rather than performing under that pressure, they cracked. In the 61st minute, Bellingham received a yellow for re-entry to pitch without permission after receiving medical treatment. One minute later, Fran García was shown a yellow which took less than a minute to be converted to a red for dissent. Less than 10 minutes later, coach Xabi Alonso was also added to the books. The stands were enraged at this point, directing angry shouts and whistles at the referee.
Real Madrid continued, one man down, to try to equalise. Several opportunities opened up but Los Blancos were unable to make anything of them. Mbappé, Tchouameni, Vini, Rodrygo and Gonzalo García all put in shots but most of them went high or wide or, when on target, were saved.
In the 92nd minute, chaos ensued. Both Carreras and Endrick (who was on the bench) were shown red cards for dissent and more yellows were handed out. In the wake of the confusion and disruption, Celta took advantage of Real Madrid’s disintegration and Williot slipped another ball into the net in the 93rd minute to seal the game.
This is not the performance Real Madrid were hoping for after their stint away and certainly not how they would like to go into Wednesday’s match with Man City but Xabi Alonso said in the post-match press conference that he thinks the team “can reverse the situation” and that they will be “[looking] ahead”.
