Madrid took the three points from Balaídos tonight (and has nine of nine) in Celta’s centenary thanks to another goal from Bellingham, the fourth of the season, this time ten minutes from time, but lost Vinícius, who he ruptured with a hamstring puncture in a race early in the match. It is the first injury suffered by the Brazilian during his time with the Whites, who already this season have Courtois and Militão sidelined for many months and Ferland Mendy, Ceballos and Arda Güler for weeks.
Without Vinícius in the field, Ancelotti maintained the scheme but that was something else. In the few minutes on the pitch, the Brazilian had gone through Mingueza’s wing several times and offered a lot of danger. He was replaced by Joselu, who in the entire first half barely connected with the ball except to score a clear offside goal.
The game started with a scare for the whites. Two minutes later Strand Larsen scored with a heel, but he was called by the VAR and after consulting with the monitor Diaz de Mera annulled the goal because he understood that Larsen had bothered Kepa, who was making his debut, in the jump. Celta no longer approached the Madrid area in the first half, except at the very end, in a counter that Bamba closed with a tight shot that missed the goal by very little.
Rafa Benítez set up a strong device with a defense of five and Madrid, which once again started without Kroos or Modric, had many difficulties creating danger. Rodrygo was the biggest threat. In his first action he was knocked down in the area. Neither the referee nor the VAR intervened in the play. In his other action of greater depth, he went from two opponents but when he was going to shoot Iván Villar, Starfelt intervened.
With Bellingham a little duller than the other days, Madrid needed to give the ball more speed to be able to disarm the local network and concretize their dominance with real chances.
Madrid changed the drawing for the second half, with Valverde on the right, Rodrygo on the left and Joselu from nine, again at 4-3-3. With a lot of ball but little shot Ancelotti went back to the classics at game time by bringing on Kroos and Modric for Camavinga and Tchouaméni,
Madrid was clearly going for the game but Celta defended themselves without losing face. In minute 66 Iván Villar knocked down Rodrygo in the area before touching the ball. Diaz de Mera whistled a penalty. Rodrygo shot it quite badly and was saved by the goalkeeper. Before in this League, Vinícius had missed the only penalty taken by Madrid in this League. Without Benzema out there, Madrid has a problem.
Things didn’t get any worse for the whites because they scored ten minutes from the end. He kicked in a corner, Joselu headed in and Bellingham got ahead of his marker to head in turn, beat Villar and continue his idyll with Madrid.
