Ronaldo and Benzema missing as Celta Vigo plot Real Madrid shock
Under Madrid's classic scorching heat of late August, Zinedine Zidane's Real Madrid will host Celta Vigo in their Bernabeu opener this Saturday and they'll face one of the most entertaining sides in La Liga last season. The squad, managed by Argentinean coach Hector Berizzo, finished in sixth place, but that hardly tells the story of a year full of great performances and easy-on-the-eye football.
The Vigueses started with five wins -- including a 4-1 thrashing of Barcelona -- and three draws, and even led the table for a few weeks. Their first defeat, at home at the hands of Real Madrid in their ninth match, showed the frailties that prevented Celta from earning a Champions League spot this season. They inexplicably looked out of sync for long spells of certain matches, conceding goals with surprising ease.
Thus, they were able to defeat Valencia at the Mestalla (2-0) or Sevilla at the Sanchez Pizjuan stadium (2-1) in solid displays, but then lost 3-0 to Rayo Vallecano, 61 to Barcelona and 7-1 to Real Madrid in their visit to the Bernabeu. In any case, their good performances by far outnumbered the poor ones, and they comfortably claimed a Europa League spot, finishing eight points ahead of Sevilla.
This season, the Vigueses have not started La Liga in such a strong manner. Their opener at home ended up with a defeat to newly promoted Leganes, in an enjoyable match with plenty of chances for both teams. After the match, Berizzo sent a strong warning to his players when he said: "I can't think of a single player who played well today."
If the defeat wasn't enough, Celta are due to play Atletico Madrid after their trip to the Bernabeu, so unless they react, they could find themselves with no points going into the fourth match of the season.
Their squad and formation look quite similar to that of last year, with the obvious absence of Nolito, now plying his trade with the similar light-blue shirt of Manchester City. However, Berizzo and the club have been able to retain most of the key players that delighted Celta fans last season, such as Fabian Orellana or the vastly improved Iago Aspas, so they should surprise a few sides this season as well.
Judging by last season's results, Real Madrid know how to handle Celta. A 10-2 aggregate score doesn't tell the whole story ahead of this weekend, with six of those goals coming from Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema, both still recovering from injury and unable to participate in today's encounter.
Celta's back four struggles against fast attackers, something that became evident in their two matches against Real Madrid last term. Bearing in mind the injuries and Zidane's obvious decision in favour of meritocracy, Saturday's lineup should include, once again, a few young faces. Kiko Casilla, a back four with Marcelo, Raphael Varane, Sergio Ramos and Daniel Carvajal, together with Casemiro in a defensive midfield position sound like safe bets to start against Celta.
The question marks appear further down the pitch. Based on their recent performances, Toni Kroos, Marco Asensio, Gareth Bale and Alvaro Morata seem bound to make the starting XI.
SPAIN
La Liga
Yesterday
R. Betis-Dep. La Coruna ............................... 0-0 Espanyol-Malaga ......................................... late
Today
Osasuna-R. Sociedad ......................................... Eibar-Valencia ................................................... Real Madrid-Celta Vigo ..................................... Leganes-At. Madrid ...........................................
Tomorrow
Las Palmas-Granada .......................................... Dep. Alaves-Sp. Gijon ........................................ Ath. Bilbao-Barcelona ....................................... Villarreal-Sevilla ................................................