Laliga
19 October 2024
Score 1 – 2
Stadium – Estadio de Balaidos
First Half Analysis
This is the first match of Laliga after the international match break for various leading players. So far, we, Real Madrid, are unbeaten in the Laliga streak up to 41 games. Barcelona holds 43 matches, which is the unbeaten record, and Real Madrid is just 2 games away from breaking that record. Real Madrid’s next La Liga match is against Barcelona, and to undo Barcelon’s record, Madrid must beat Barcelona in the upcoming game on Saturday, 27 October 2024. Meanwhile, we need to concentrate on the game at hand against Celta Vigo.
In the 4th minute of the game, Celta got a golden chance to score a goal early. A Celta player got a great pass through the middle of the field inside the box, and he got the opportunity to shoot too, but the ball flew out without any danger. Also, the flag was up for him as he seemed to be offside just by some fraction of a second, even if it had been a goal. He also had a player on the right ready to receive the ball. It was a great build-up by Celta. But for Madrid, this was a poor defense lapse by Real Madrid’s defense players.
In the 6th minute, Madrid pressed hard in the D-area but was unable to create any real chance. On the other hand, Celta somehow was able to clear the ball, while doing so, the ball was thrown into the Madrid half and a Celta attacking player got the ball all by himself in the Madrid half. He ran with the ball and no defender was obstructing him as they were miles away. He had to face only Courtois, as he approached the box, he let the ball go into the goal, but the ball, luckily, went out of the right of the pole for an out ball, and thus, the real dangerous situation was avoided for Madrid. This was a second golden chance created by Celta and a serious lapse of defense for Real Madrid. If Madrid kept allowing such lapses to take place, their winning chance in the games would be drastically minimal.
In the 9th minute of the game, there was an attack in the box of Celta, and Valverde had a good chance to apply his powerful shot at the post, but the ball landed in the hand of the Celta keeper who blocked the shot with no danger to them. It was the first real shot at the post of Celta Vigo by a Madrid player.
Madrid got a corner kick in the 15th minute of the game, but the corner kick could not be utilized as much as they should have.
Ancelloti got a yellow card in the 19th minute in his technical area, the reason not being clear to me. He was seen very agitated and animated in this match, I believe he was not so happy with the defense of his team. His unusual animated role was seen in this game though. He even had a few seconds chat with Tchouameni perhaps explaining the situation to him.
In the 20th minute, the most awaited moment arrived out of nowhere when a deflected ball from Camavinga landed at the feet of Mbappe just outside the box about 25 yards in the mid-area. Mbappe without losing a moment with a powerful right foot shot the ball into the left top corner of the box and the ball landed perfectly inside the box. The ball was too fast and powerful for the keeper to handle. It was a superb goal and could created by players like Mbappe only. The Real Madrid players felt very relieved and joyous once they scored this goal and same for the couch, Ancelloti.
In the 21st minute, a squandered ball from the feet of Tchouameni landed at the feet of a Celta player just outside the box, and he beat the goalkeeper, Courtois, and put the ball into the box for an easy goal. But the player was seen offside obviously by miles and the goal was cancelled. But if the player had not been offside, once again this could have been an extreme lapse of Madrid’s defense as seen again and again in this match.
Vini and Mbappe led an attack in the 25th minute, Mbappe went into the box from the left of the box, but before he could charge, a defender foiled his good attempt, and the effort was wasted.
Celta led a good attack into the Madrid box in the 31st minute and was a very dangerous situation, but Militao well intervened with his sliding tackle and saved the situation. But as he had been having trouble with his left knee, he seemed to have more so with this tackle. Luckily he could continue with his game with no further discomfort. Celta had their corner kick, but it was not much use for them.
In the 35th minute, Camavinga got a loose ball in the midfield outside the box and he took a long-range shot at the post, but the ball flew away high and caused no danger.
In the 39th minute, Valverde threw the ball into the box and Vini headed it, but the ball went over the bar. Vini could have easily found the post as he was quite open and not much blocked. Such chances should be well converted as they are hard to come by the teams like Real Madrid.
In the 41st minute, Vini got the ball from Valverde in the middle of the opposition’s half and he took the ball solo into the box, there he dribbled through 3 players and had a close shot from the left of the box, but the ball went high above the bar. It was a superb solo attempt by Vini but lacked the final finish. Occasionally Vini produced such a superb skill proving his talent.
Bellingham was a bit upset, as he was running parallel to Vini on the right side, Vini could have given the cross pass to Bellingham, it could have been another good option for a goal shot. Thus, it is very important at such crucial moments what decision you take, makes one the game-winner or the loser.
Celta created about 3 good chances, only they were offset by millimeter-off sides situations. Real Madrid did not create such an obvious situation but was lucky to get a goal advantage. The goal came out of nowhere for Real Madrid as Mbappe displayed his skill to score this goal for his team. Otherwise, till this half-time Real Madrid had not been as impressive as they should have been. They need to work better and perform better than this level to get back to their previous position as a European Champion team.
Second Half Analysis
In the 47th minute, Bellingham got the ball inside his half and he ran with the ball on the right flank toward the opposition D-area, as he did not find suitable support, he got inside the box and took the goal shot, but the ball passed just outside of the far post. Though his attempt did not materialize, it was a good solo effort by Bellingham.
In the 51st minute of the game, Celta got their dream fulfilled, they scored their much-needed goal against Real Madrid and equalized. They had been working hard for this. A Celta player on the right wing gave a cross pass to his teammate who was lurking alone inside the box and he turned the pass into an easy goal as there were no defenders to interfere with him. It was again a massive blunder by Madrid’s defense time and again in this game. This time Celta was able to convert the effort into a goal.
In the 54th minute, Bellingham won the ball in the center of the field and he passed the ball to running Mbappe ahead. Mbappe got the ball inside the box and gave a one-touch pass on his left to Vini, who was all free and kicked the ball into the post for a goal. Unfortunately, the flag was up for Mbappe as he was offside. It was a superb attempt by this trio, alas, it turned out to be the offside ball.
Today, one good thing I noticed was that Vini did not complain much or at all, as in previous games. I think he learned to shut up and keep minding his business. That is good for him and the team. I wish he would stay this way all through.
In the 55 minute, Celta got a free kick for a foul by Bellingham. It was about 10 yards or so away from the 18-yard line. It was a good spot for a free kick for Celta. But the opportunity was squandered away and could not cause any danger to Madrid’s goalpost.
In the 60th minute, Celta kept pressing in the game and threatening the goalpost of Courtois. A Celta player got the cross pass on the left in the box, and he moved forward and kicked the ball meant for the goal or a pass. The oncoming Celta player could not touch the ball, nor the keeper Courtois. The ball straight rolled from the right side of the far post and for an out ball. It was such an effort by Celta and so close to scoring another goal for the team.
A minute later, Bellingham threw the ball inside the Celta box meant for Mbappe, but Mbappe was tackled by defenders, and he rolled on the ground while the ball was caught by the keeper. No foul of any sort was given for this clumsy tackle on Mbappe.
In the 62nd minute, Valverde threw the ball into the box for Mbappe from the right flank, somehow Mbappe got the ball and managed to take the goal shot from close range, but his shot was blocked by a defender who got hurt a bit by the shot.
Camavinga was replaced by Rodrygo in the 63rd minute of the game, while Modric substituted Valverde. I hoped the fresh legs would add some energy and much drive to the team and produce some good results.
Now, as per the commentators, Luca Modric is the oldest player to play for Real Madrid as he is 39 years and 40 days old. Before him, it was Puskas who held this record of 39 years 36 days old.
In the 66 minutes of the game, Rodrygo passed the ball to Modric from the right wing. Modric, in turn, threw a superb forward ball for Vini inside the box, Vini passed two defenders, got the ball inside the box, and beating the keeper slotted the ball into the net. It was a superb pass of Modric and Vini’s skilful move turned the ball into a second goal of the team. Madrid was ahead again in the game. Entry of Modric did make a difference in the game.
In the 66th minute, Celta led an attack from the right wing and a Celta player had a good shot at the post from inside the right of the box. But Courtois caught the ball with no difficulty and no danger to the post.
Just about 3 minutes later, a Celta player threw the ball into the Madrid box, a Celta attacking player along with Rudiger chased the ball and the Celta player slightly kicked the ball. Luckily, Courtois could block away the ball with his left leg and avoid the dangerous situation.
Fran Garcia was substituted by Mendy in the 70th minute of the game.
Celta led one dangerous shot at the Madrid post in the 70th minute. A Celta forward kept coming toward the center of the box with the ball and no Madrid player tried to stop him. He was quite free to shoot and he did shoot with his left foot a powerful high ball, but the ball passed a few feet high above the bar. But this could have been dangerous and the ball might have gone into the post too with that kind of free shot. Madrid players should not allow their opponents to have that kind of freedom with the ball in that dangerous zone.
Immediately afterward, Mbappe got the ball just outside the box, and he passed it to Rodrygo on the right inside the box. But, before Rodrygo could do anything, he was cut off by a defender, and a good chance was missed.
In the 75th minute, Vazquez was given a yellow card for a foul, and also Celta earned a free kick at the left flank. The shot was well punched away by Courtois, and thus the danger was avoided.
Celta got to take one shot at the goalpost of Courtois in the 77th minute which was easily grabbed by Courtois. But Celta had been getting too close to Madrid’s post quite frequently and got to charge at the post. This should not have been allowed by the Madrid defenders. There seemed to lack a defense lapse in Madrid’s defense in this match a lot.
As I said, there was another dangerous Celta attack in the 79th minute from the right flank. The cross was thrown from the left flank into the center of the box where two Celta players were lurking and only Vazquez to defend. But while a Celta player took the goal shot, Modric had reached and was able to block the close, dangerous shot and luckily the attack was foiled.
In the 80th minute, Ceballos substituted Mbappe. For a long time, Mbappe did not get any good ball to create any danger to the opponent’s post.
Last 10 minutes of the game, Celta led more attacks around Madrid’s box area, though they could not do much out of this. Madrid hardly could take the ball near Celt’s box on the other hand. Madrid was just trying to hold the ball and slow the pace as they had a goal advantage.
An extra 5 minutes were added to the game.
In the extra time of the 92nd minute, there Celta led a counterattack from the right flank, a Celta player ran with the ball and threw a cross pass inside the center of the box. A Celta attacking player touched the ball meant for the goal as he had to beat only the keeper, Courtois. Luckily for Madrid, the ball rolled outside of the left pole and for an out ball. It was a massive chance for Celta to score a second goal and a great chance to equalize in the extra time.
Man of the match was Mbappe in this game.
With this win, Real Madrid had been able to maintain their 42nd Laliga winning streak. Next week, Madrid will face Barcelona, and if Madrid can win in that game, they will catch up with the record holder Barcelona.
Though Real Madrid won this game, the performance had been quite poor. Their defense was sloppy as Celta got so many superb attacking opportunities, it was only their bad luck it seemed they could not score. Looking at the Celta opportunities, they should have been ahead by 3 goals, at least.
Madrid did not lead many attacking opportunities, on the other hand, the game was more played in and around Madrid’s box area, proving Celta’s attacking capabilities. Ball control was also poor, and recovery lacked a lot. Except for those two goals, Real Madrid lacked most of all areas of the game, and so, Ancelloti must immediately find solutions to these massive weaknesses. Next week with Barcelona, this level of game will not help Madrid to maintain the winning streak and to get level up with them in points. I am sure Ancelloti will come up with good solutions, and the team will perform better in the next important game.
Statistics
Celta de Vigo Real Madrid
47 % Ball Possession 53%
1 Goal 2
13 Total Shots 10
6 Corner kicks 2
7 Goal Attempts 6
2 Off sides 2
2 Yellow cards 1
16 Fouls 13
531 Passes 608
Source: scorevisit.com