An uninspired Real Madrid narrowly avoided another setback in the championship race and reduced the gap to Barcelona to one point for the time being. For a long time, everything pointed to a draw in Vigo, before the ball found its way into the net with a bit of luck.
After two surprising defeats, Real went into the game at Celta Vigo four points behind leaders Barcelona and were almost doomed to win in order not to squander their chance of winning the championship early on. Coach Alvaro Arbeloa made three changes to his starting lineup after Monday’s 0-1 defeat to Getafe: Asencio, Mendy, and Brahim Diaz replaced Alaba (injured), Carreras (suspended), and Gonzalo (bench) in the starting lineup.
Celta started the game boldly and had two shots on goal in the opening minutes through Borja Iglesias (1st, 6th). At the other end, however, the home side were also lucky early on: Vinicius Junior’s attempt bounced off the left post and back into play (9′), and Tchouameni’s long-range shot a minute later was slightly deflected and went just wide of the right post (10′).
Borja Iglesias responds to Tchouameni’s dream curler
The Madrilenians then struck from the resulting corner: Arda Güler played the ball back to Tchouameni, whose curler hit the inside post and flew into the left corner (11′).
With the lead behind them, the dominant Royals controlled the game, but Vigo continued to threaten. In the 15th minute, Borja Iglesias was denied by Courtois, but ten minutes later he scored the deserved equalizer after strong work from Swedberg.
Real continued to struggle to create chances, rarely breaking through Vigo’s tight five-man defense. The hosts, on the other hand, almost turned the game around completely before the break. Once again, Courtois came to the rescue of his vulnerable defense, this time against Swedberg (44′).
After the break, Real continued to control the game without really posing a threat themselves. It took until the 68th minute for the ball to fly towards goal again, with Radu saving Vinicius Junior’s shot.
Vigo lucky: No handball penalty for Real
Shortly afterwards, Vigo’s defense around the keeper was lucky: Jutgla cleared a corner from the Royals with his arm, but after reviewing the video, the referee decided not to award a penalty, but instead called an offensive foul (72′). Tchouameni had slightly pushed the offensive player, who was substituted during the check, in a duel.
Even after that, Real continued to create little, while the woodwork came to their rescue in their own penalty area shortly before the end. Just five minutes after coming on as a substitute, Iago Aspas slammed the ball against the right post (88′).
So everything seemed to be heading for a draw and another Real slip-up – until the fourth minute of stoppage time.
Alexander-Arnold’s seemingly harmless cross—symbolic of the visitors’ uncreative play in front of goal—was poorly cleared by Vecino. Fede Valverde took a touch just outside the box and then slotted home the late winner. Marcos Alonso’s unfortunate deflection left Radu with no chance.
Real, who temporarily reduced the gap to Barcelona to one point, continue their Champions League round of 16 campaign against ManCity on Wednesday (9 p.m.). The following day, Vigo will host Lyon at the same time in the division below. In La Liga, Los Blancos will face Elche on Saturday in a week’s time (9 p.m.). Vigo will travel to Real Betis on the next matchday on Sunday (6:30 p.m.).
