Immediate Reaction: Real Madrid 5-2 Celta de Vigo (AET)

real Madrid 5-2 Celta de Vigo (AET) (Mbappé, Vinícius Júnior, Endrick x2 and Valverde). A victory at home. Here is my reaction to the cup match. More to enjoy: player scores, press and a podcast.

After another tough loss to Barcelona in the Super Cup, this match became a must-win for Real Madrid to avoid unrest among fans. Fans may have been angry just by looking at the lineup, which included Lucas Vázquez at right back and Aurélien Tchouaméni in midfield. Raúl Asencio was reintroduced to the centre-back position and Dani Ceballos also got the nod. Among the substitutes was Castilla right back Lorenzo Aguado. Luka Modrić was the captain of the team.

Despite the desperate need to improve, it was Celta who had the first chance, heading the ball onto the crossbar. After a slow while, Brahim Díaz finally gave Real Madrid the start with a shot on goal that made the goalkeeper’s job easier. Kylian Mbappé then spiced things up and continued his good form with a good shot close to goal. It was halftime and Madrid had that important advantage.

The second half started perfectly, as Vinícius Júnior increased his tally for the season after an assist from Brahim Díaz. Kylian Mbappé almost scored the third with a header that went over the crossbar. Vinícius then had another chance as Madrid took control of the game, which was followed by Brahim forcing a block to save the goal after evading multiple challenges. Celta were encouraged to try again, testing Andriy Lunin before wasting the rebound. Arda Güler seemed to end the game, but her goal was disallowed for offside in the play. Things went wrong, quickly after this. An error by Eduardo Camavinga allowed the visitors to punish Madrid through Jonathon Bamba and make it 2-1. The curse of Castilla always means disaster for Real Madrid, but today was a truly unpleasant twist of fate. Celta won a penalty in added time, but Castilla graduate Marcos Alonso converted it to make it 2-2 and send the match into extra time.

Extra time was crazy, but surprisingly the first fifteen minutes ended goalless, with the only real talking point being the possible penalty denied to Celta. In the second half everything exploded, with substitute Endrick saving his team from the edge of the area. Madrid went further ahead when Fede Valverde hit a spectacular volley two minutes later. Celta tried to recover something with good possession, but could not create more chances. However, the Whites were not finished and Endrick scored a double in the final minutes with a clever backheel. The score of 5-2 ended up being too much for Celta Vigo, and Real Madrid advances to the next round of the Copa del Rey. What did you think of this one?