Real Madrid withstands late surge from Celta Vigo to maintain LaLiga title aspirations

Real Madrid clinched their fourth consecutive league victory with a thrilling 3-2 win over RC Celta de Vigo, keeping their LaLiga title hopes alive ahead of the highly anticipated El Clásico showdown next weekend.

The match commenced with an intense pace, featuring several early chances, with the standout opportunity coming from Marcos Alonso. His header was expertly saved by Thibaut Courtois, preventing Celta from taking an early lead.

As is typical for Real, they maintained control of the ball for the majority of the first half, eventually getting their reward shortly after the half-hour mark when Arda Güler unleashed a shot that deflected off Alonso and found the top corner.

Just six minutes later, Los Blancos doubled their lead, thanks to a fantastic save from Courtois that initiated a counter-attack, finished off clinically by Kylian Mbappé, who sent the ball past Vicente Guaita.

Real seemed to have the victory wrapped up after the break, scoring their third goal when Güler’s precise pass found Mbappé, who calmly slotted the ball home.

However, Celta refused to go down without a fight, pulling one back with a close-range finish from Javi Rodríguez, igniting hope for the visitors with just over 20 minutes left on the clock. The comeback gained momentum when veteran Iago Aspas set up Williot Swedberg, who made a perfectly timed run to score.

Remarkably, Real nearly squandered their three-goal cushion when Pablo Durán burst through on goal, with his low shot just managing to squeeze under Courtois but not crossing the goal line.

In spite of their late surge, Celta were unable to change the outcome, continuing their search for a first victory in this matchup since January 2017 (D3, L16).

This statistic is unlikely to deter their supporters too much, as their seventh-place standing will see them return to European competition for the first time in nine years if they can hold their position against the competition.

For Real, with the gap to league leaders Barcelona now down to four points and only four matches remaining, everything is at stake ahead of next weekend’s fierce rivalry.

Check out a summary of the match here.