Copa del Rey
Score: 5 – 2
16 January 2025
Stadium: Santiago Bernabeu
First Half Game Analysis
In the starting 11, there were Modric, Asencio, Ceballos, Brahim, Fran, and Lunin in the Real Madrid team who are normally not in the starting lineup.
It was thrilling and tiresome for the players as the game went into extra time, and finally Madrid displayed their superiority and scored more goals to advance to the quarterfinal game of the Copa del Rey.
In the 5th minute, Celta had a free kick close to the box, but the ball was blocked by the wall, and again they got a corner kick. There was a good heading, but the ball missed the post, and hence the very first attack of Celta was foiled.
Modric got a chance for his first goal shot in the 6th minute; again, his shot was well controlled by the keeper, and it was the first attempt of the Madrid onto the Celta goalpost.
Up to the 10-minute mark, the game was balanced, and both sides were trying to take the ball into the opposition box area.
Tchouameni took a solid goal shot from a distance, but the keeper could block the ball and earned a corner for Madrid. Modric took the corner that was not good enough, and the chance for anything was lost. Modric’s corner kicks are not good enough ever, and he should be replaced by someone better for this part of the job.
Up to the 25th minute of the game, so far Madrid had not been able to create a single dangerous moment for Celta. All their play had been limited to the midfield area. So far nothing exciting and exceptional in the game.
After constant pressing toward the Celta goal, in the 30th minute, Brahim had a close shot into the post from the right of the box; again, that too was blocked away by the keeper, and he lost the chance of adding a goal to Madrid.
In the 37th minute, Celta pressed hard into the Madrid box, and a good cross ball was thrown from the right of the box, but no player could pick up the ball, or it could have been very dangerous. Again, immediately afterward, a Celta striker got the ball all to himself, and for an instant it seemed he was going to score. But Lunin timely intervened by diving down for the ball, and the striker went down on the ground. It seemed like a penalty to us, but the referee thought it was not at all. Later, I think he was right, as the players seemed to have taken a deliberate dive. Well, it was a dangerous situation for Madrid.
Right after this incident, Ceballos passed the ball to Mbappe on the left, and he took off with the ball on the left flank and straight into the box for the goal shot. He beat a defender and took a shot from that narrow angle, and the keeper could not stop it and the ball found its home, the back of the net of the goalpost. That was a superb solo display of skill by Mbappe. He is getting better and better playing with this team, Real Madrid.
Mbappe solo effort goal
The first half of the game had been just ordinary, nothing impressive from either side. Mbappe showed a glimpse of his skill with that one solo goal. Maybe Madrid should or could have done better creating attacks at Celta post more.
Second Half Game Analysis
3 minutes into the second half, Mbappe threw the ball to Brahim, and in turn, Brahim passed the ball to Vini. Vini took the ball through the two defenders and slid the ball into the post so that the goalkeeper could not get to it, and thus the second goal of the evening for the team. It was a good understanding among the players and a good and fluid build-up.
Vini scores 2nd goal
In this game, Madrid players were showing speed and more forward passes unlike the previous games. So they have been able to control the game and the pace of the game well in their favor. Celta rarely got the ball, and so did the opportunity for forward attacks toward the Madrid goalpost.
In the 57th minute, Brahim, from the inside of the box on the right, tossed the ball toward Mbappe, and he headed the ball toward the post. The ball flew just over the bar, missing the post very closely. It was quite easy heading for Mbappe, and he was unobstructed, so he should have been able to score at such an opportunity. Alas! He missed a good chance to double his score.
There was one very exciting moment for Vini just after a minute of the above incident. Celta goalkeeper clearance ball landed in the feet of Brahim, and he passed the ball to Vini, who was not covered. As he approached the post, he was one-on-one with the keeper, and he flicked the ball over the keeper; unfortunately, a defender was able to kick away the ball just as it was about to cross the line. That was a great save by the Celta defender, for it was a sure goal for Madrid.
Two very good chances of scoring goals have been missed by Mbappe and Vini. The obvious chances should not be missed, or the heavy price has to be paid, particularly in the big games where such goal-scoring opportunities rarely come by.
Mbappe again had a chance for a goal in the 63rd minute from close range, but his ball flew over the bar. There was a good chance for him to score.
In the 65th minute, on a counterattack by Madrid, a good chance was created for Brahim, but his effort was thwarted by a blocked shot. He was attacking from the right side, and dribbling two defenders, he shot the ball from a close range, but his shot got deflected by the foot of a defender, and Madrid got a corner.
Two minutes later, similarly, Vini’s shot was also deflected, and the ball earned a corner for Madrid. Modric’s corner kick was a good ball, but no one could get it, and the chance was squandered.
In the 70th minute, Celta had a good long shot into the goalpost; it was well calculated by Lunin, and he was able to punch away the ball over the bar well and avoided conceding a goal thus far.
Ceballos was substituted by Camavinga, and Brahim was substituted by Güler in the 70th minute.
Celta again had a very long goal shot that was powerful enough; luckily, Lunin was able to stop that too. A nearby striker had a chance to shoot the ball a second time, but he sent the ball out without any danger. By the way, that shot would have been offside, declared so as the camera replay showed it so.
In the 77th minute, Vini passed the very unselfish ball to Guler inside the box, and Guler scored the goal, the 3rd goal for Madrid. Unfortunately, VAR could detect Vini offside by inches, and the goal was declared offside. It was a good move by Mbappe, Vini, and Guler in the attack.
In the 79th minute, Modric was replaced by Valverde, and Endrick came in for Mbappe.
In the second half of the game, Celta too displayed some control of the game and occasionally led attacks at the goalpost, creating dangerous situations for Madrid.
In the 83rd minute, on the left of the Madrid box, Camavinga misled his pass to Chouameni, and the ball was snatched away by a Celta player, and they had an easy goal to score. Just like in the previous game, Camavinga contributed to his mistake, conceding a goal to the opposition team. The scoreline was 2-1 against Celta.
Up to the 85th minute of the game, total shots of Madrid were 6/14, and that of Celta was 2/8.
As Celta had been pressing quite frequently, in the 90th minute, they led another dangerous attack, and Asencio happened to lead the striker to fall down as he pushed him. This earned Celta a penalty shot, while Asencio was given a yellow card too. Celta added another easy goal to their tally, and the game went on to extra time.
In the last 25 minutes or so, Celta improved their game, and Madrid had not been able to lead that many attacks nor had much control on the ongoing game.
6 minutes of extra time were added.
In the 92nd minute, Bellingham substituted Fran Garcia.
In the extra time of the 95th minute, Valverde took a good run with the ball on the left flank and even got inside the box and threw a cross ball to Endrick. Endrick took his left-foot shot, but the shot flew just high in the sky, and a good ball was squandered away once again.
In the 105th minute of the game, Rudiger’s elbow seemed to have touched the ball inside his own box, but after scrutiny by the VAR, it was declared alright with no harm to Madrid.
Madrid got a corner in the 107th minute; the ball hit the shoulder of Rudiger, and the ball bounced on the right pole, missing it just by inches. Madrid was in the desperate situation that anything could happen in this game.
Extra time break and no score by either side till this time. Celta’s pressing game in the second half had earned them this much time to make a difference in the game if they could. Endrick, Guler, Camavinga, and all substituted players had not been able to impact the game much so far.
In the 2nd half, Vini was replaced by Rodrygo.
In the 108th minute, Endrick scored a very unexpected goal for Madrid. He got a pass ball from Guler, and he, after dribbling around just from the box line, took his powerful left foot and made a precise shot toward the far post on the left, and the ball found its home without any intervention from the keeper as he could not reach the ball. This was the kind of shot that players must work on, powerful and precise as measured into the box. Some space for breathing for Madrid players after a stressful hour in this game.
In the excitement as Endrick took off his shirt, he did earn a yellow card for this action of his.
In the 112th minute, Madrid got a corner ball. Though they could not do much with that ball straight, after a few steps of playing around, Tchouameni passed the ball to Valverde. Valverde, who took the shot away from the 18-yard line, shot the ball right through the left far corner where the keeper could not reach it at all, and thus the 4th goal of the game was scored unexpectedly. Once again Valverde was able to produce one of his charismatic shots at this moment when the team needed it so much in the game.
Valverde had another goal shot in the 119th minute, but this time his shot got deflected at the feet of a defender and earned a corner ball.
The corner was taken by Guler, and he threw a good ball that landed on the feet of Endrick. Endrick fumbled for a moment, but he could cleverly backheel the ball into the post, and that earned the team the 5th goal of the game for the evening. This was another surprising present for the team in the evening.
Endrick’s backheeled goal
Though the score was so much different, this was a difficult game for Real Madrid. All those 3 goals were scored in the extra time. Madrid played a better game in the first half, while in the second half, gradually, Celta started exerting the game on their side, and finally they were able to equalize. Madrid should have been able to stop the game within 90 minutes as they were leading 2 goals to nil for a long time.
Strength of Real Madrid
In this game, Madrid had improved a bit in attack that they speeded up unlike previous games where they took time to attack. In the first half, they had very good control of the game, giving very little chance to attack to the opponent team. They also scored two goals without conceding any in the first half.
In defense, there was improvement too, with Asencio playing a good role avoiding a couple of dangerous situations. He combined with Rudiger to seem like a formidable wall for Madrid.
Weaknesses of the team
Real Madrid seemed to have lost control of the game in the second half, particularly after the 65th minute, as Celta started leading more attacks. The team seemed to have lost the focus and rhythm of the game then on, and that provided the opportunity to score goals for Celta. Again Madrid gave away a penalty that was unnecessary.
Again, the lack of precise finishing skill was seen here too a couple of times. Also, more creative technique in the opposition box area is still lacking as the players fumbled and were confused with the ball; a kind of what to do situation arose several times in the box.
Players Performance
Mbappe was the best among the players, as he was seen as sharp, agile, and working hard and producing some good results. He seemed to have found the rhythm with the team and the way of the game here with Madrid players. He is seen to be improving with every game with this team.
Asencio was doing great as he avoided a couple of dangerous situations, except for giving away that penalty shot. I think the guy goes on improving with exposure to more and more games with the team.
Endrick was sharp today for those two goals, as he was quite clinical in his goal-scoring shots, particularly in that extra time.
Conclusion
Real Madrid played a superb game in the first half as expected and as they should. But the team could not maintain the same rythm and pace of the game in the second half, particulary after 65th minute on as the two conceded goals proved. It was a tough game for the players as they were leveled by the end of the 90 minutes, and the gloomy situation and danger of losing the game was arising on the horizon. Even in the extra time, they were finding it hard to hit the goalpost. Anyways, finally, Endrick and Valverde could turn the table in their favor and save the day for the team.
Statistics
Real Madrid Celta Vigo
Possession 59% 41%
Shots 23 12
Shots on target 11 4
Passes 822 587
Fouls 10 11
Yellow card 2 4
Off sides 3 6
Corners 11 6