Author: Amrit Santlani
Celta de Vigo – Real Madrid – 0:1
Real Madrid beat Celta de Vigo 1-0 at the Balaidos on Friday night to maintain their winning streak in La Liga, but it came at a cost. Brazilian winger Vinicius Junior limped off after just 20 minutes of play, clutching his hamstring. That won’t be good news for Madrid or Brazil ahead of the national team’s next games in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers against Bolivia and Peru.
It was a bittersweet result, as Jude Bellingham continues to shine, proving that he was worth every penny Real Madrid paid Borussia Dortmund to sign the youngster.
Celta celebrated their 100th anniversary earlier this week, so the mood was celebratory in Balaidos when Madrid arrived in town. Kepa Arrizabalaga, on loan from Chelsea, made his debut for Carlo Ancelotti’s side.
The Spaniard was beaten just three minutes after the start of the game when Celta had a goal disallowed that should have stood. While defending a corner, Kepa clashed with Jørgen Strand Larsen and the latter deflected the ball away from the madridista goalkeeper after a shot from his teammate. After taking a look at the replay, the referee disallowed the goal and Ancelotti’s side survived.
Shortly afterwards, Vini picked up a hamstring injury and had to be replaced by Joselu. His Brazilian team-mate Rodrygo had a shot on goal blocked by one of Celta’s defenders, before Joselu had a goal disallowed for offside in the 43rd minute.
Federico Valverde and Bellingham scrambled to meet Rodrygo’s cross and the resulting shot was narrowly wide. Strand Larsen shot over the goal at the other end, before Rodrygo won a penalty (in the 66th minute), but had his shot saved by Iván Villar.
With frustration beginning to set in, Ancelotti brought on Luka Modric and Toni Kroos. Captain Iago Aspas had Celta’s best chance when he shot wide with the goal gaping.
In the 81st minute, the hosts were punished for it. Kroos crossed into the goalkeeper’s area after a corner. Joselu released Bellingham, and the Englishman scored with a header from the edge of the box – 0-1! This is the 20-year-old Englishman’s fourth goal in three games. Note that the Real Madrid rookie scores in every game. Before that, he scored twice against Almeria (3:1) and against Athletic (2:0).