I had the chance to attend another Real Madrid match, and it turned out to be full of surprises. Celta Vigo did the unexpected and defeated Real Madrid 0–2 at the Bernabéu. In a tense match, the home side received two red cards. Williot Swedberg was the standout performer, scoring both goals for the visitors.
Real Madrid played at the Bernabéu for the first time since November 1st, when Los Blancos defeated Valencia 4–0. In the six away matches that followed, Xabi Alonso’s team managed only two victories. Last Friday, however, they recorded an impressive 0–3 win at San Mamés against Athletic Bilbao, with Kylian Mbappé stealing the spotlight by scoring twice.
Celta Vigo came into the match having won three of their last five La Liga games. During the week, they played away against Sant Andreu in the Copa del Rey. Claudio Giráldez’s side progressed to the next round after winning on penalties.
Real Madrid suffered an early setback after 22 minutes when Éder Militão was forced off through injury. He was replaced by Antonio Rüdiger, who had only recently returned from injury after being sidelined since the end of August. The change did little to stabilise Xabi Alonso’s defence, and Celta Vigo began to grow in confidence, creating several dangerous moments.
Arda Güler soon had the biggest chance of the game. Vinícius Júnior pulled the ball back to Mbappé inside the penalty area, who then squared it to the completely unmarked Turkish midfielder. Güler failed to make proper contact, and the ball slowly rolled wide of the post. At the other end, Pablo Durán had an equally good opportunity following a beautiful team move. The right winger found himself one-on-one with Thibaut Courtois, but his effort lacked power and failed to seriously trouble the Belgian goalkeeper.
In first-half stoppage time, the Bernabéu crowd thought the breakthrough had finally arrived. Vinícius Júnior found himself clean through after an incredible long ball. The Brazilian attempted a cheeky finish with the back of his foot, but Ionuț Radu reacted brilliantly, stretching fully to make the save.
Real Madrid started the second half with renewed energy. Federico Valverde immediately tested Radu with a powerful long-range effort, causing problems for the Celta Vigo goalkeeper. However, the visitors remained dangerous on the counter-attack, which paid off in the 54th minute. Bryan Zaragoza delivered a cross to Williot Swedberg, who calmly finished past Courtois to make it 0–1. The goal came as a shock to the Bernabéu, but it was not undeserved at that stage.
Frustration began to grow among the home fans and soon spread to the players. After Jude Bellingham had already been booked, Fran García received two yellow cards within a minute. The defender was shown a red card and sent off.
Despite playing with ten men, Los Blancos became increasingly threatening. After a series of half-chances, Mbappé attempted a lob in a one-on-one situation with the goalkeeper, but his effort drifted just over the bar. Later, Gonzalo García thought he had equalised, only to see his header go narrowly wide. Matters worsened for Real Madrid when they were reduced to nine men. Álvaro Carreras protested a refereeing decision and was shown two yellow cards in quick succession. A heated argument erupted on the Real Madrid bench, and even substitute Endrick was sent off. Shortly afterwards, Swedberg sealed the victory by dribbling past Courtois and scoring his second goal of the night: 0–2.
Real Madrid now sit second in La Liga, four points behind Barcelona. They will look to respond in midweek when they face Manchester City in the Champions League. Celta Vigo climb to tenth place and will aim to continue their fine form when they take on Bologna in the Europa League later this week.
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