Real Madrid certainly know how to keep their fans in suspense. Faced with an unexpected extension due to a blatant error from Camavinga and a reckless play from Asensio, while they seemed to control the match thanks to goals from Mbappé and Vinicius, Carlo Ancelotti’s team flirted with disaster this Thursday against Celta. Goals from Bamba and Marcos Alonso gave the Galician team hope, exposing a worrying level of complacency that only disappeared when the team found themselves in a precarious situation.
Extra-time goals from Endrick and Valverde ensured the Whites qualified for the quarter-finals, but instead of the strong reaction their coach demanded after the Spanish Super Cup debacle, the team was overrun by stress. She displayed alarming defensive confusion and an even more worrying lack of leadership, bordering on further deserved humiliation. They lack football, organization and commitment. It is only through their dogged determination, embodied this time by the episodic Endrick and the tireless Valverde, that they managed to stay alive in a Copa del Rey which does not alleviate the ills of an incapable team to correct oneself, except in the face of imminent danger.
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Real Madrid arrived in exceptional condition for a match where they came close to harsh condemnation. Tired of being a shield for his players, Ancelotti made more than half a dozen changes from the team that collapsed against Barca in the Super Cup, returning to a recently implemented 4-3-3 pattern. aside. He looked to strike a balance by calling on Modric and Ceballos for their play-building skills and cleverly reintroduced Tchouaméni into the midfield.
The whistles directed at Carletto before the match and the jeers Tchouaméni suffered every time he touched the ball reflected the frayed nerves of a fan base unforgiving of the awful performance during the classicos. The encounter was meant to be a summative judgment, both individually and collectively, and Real Madrid only regained favor thanks to the result.
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Celta threatened early with a Starfelt shot that hit the crossbar, adding further arguments for a ruthless verdict against Madrid, but the team began to unravel its defenses. With less power in midfield, Ancelotti’s side improved their ball circulation but lacked bite until a controversial incident shifted the momentum in their favor. A possible foul on Lunin by Swedberg turned into a magnificent goal from Mbappé, who ended a brilliant run in his favorite hunting territory with a decisive strike, while Celta lamented a penalty that neither Munuera Montero nor VAR saw fit to grant. “Everything is fine, José Luis,” he must have heard, the focus of so much previous suspicion on both sides.
The Bondy prodigy scared the ghosts into a counter-attack as half-time approached and was decisive again at the start of the second half, orchestrating a triangular action with Brahim and Vinicius, which the Brazilian resolved masterfully, breaking a drought which had lasted almost a month without finding the net. Yet despite this correction, Celta maintained their faith, capitalizing on Madrid’s lack of finishing and getting back into the match with goals from Bamba and Marcos Alonso. They pushed Real Madrid into a tailspin, putting them on the brink of disaster, from which they barely managed to escape, almost miraculously and, as is often the case with the Whites, inexplicably.
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