Real Madrid will look to continue their dominant start in the league when they hit the road to square up against Celta Vigo.
Celta Vigo, who have not had the best of starts in the 2023/24 La Liga season, are all set to host high-flying Real Madrid. The home team have been winless in their opening two fixtures of the season while the visitors have won both matches.
Celta Vigo kicked off the new season with a 2-0 defeat at home to Osasuna. It was nowhere near the kind of performance they were looking for. On Matchday 2, things did improve just a touch in terms of the result as they ended up securing a draw.
The home team managed to secure a 1-1 draw against Real Sociedad away from home thanks to an injury-time goal by Oscar Mingueza. It was a closely-fought encounter where neither team deserved to lose.
While it was a hard-fought draw last time out, the challenge on Matchday 3 is even bigger as they square up against Real Madrid. Los Blancos are at the top of the league table, with two wins in two matches. They have put in two dominating displays in their opening fixtures.
On Matchday 1, they secured a clinical 2-0 win over Athletic Club and then backed it up with a 3-1 comeback win against Almeria. After going behind in the game Jude Bellingham inspired them to a win with two goals and an assist.
Madrid will head into this away fixture high on confidence and will look to seal yet another three points. Meanwhile, The Hard Tackle takes a closer look at both teams and tries to predict the tactics they could deploy.
Team News & Tactics
Celta Vigo
Rafael Benitez will be without the services of Goncalo Paciencia and Carles Perez. The duo did not feature in their last outing and that will be the case for this home encounter against Real Madrid.
It was an impressive outing for Celta Vigo against Real Sociedad as they managed to hold them to a draw. On the back of that performance, Benitez might not make any changes to the starting XI that took the field last time out.
🗣️🏟️🤝
El llamamiento de @rafabenitezweb al celtismo para este viernes#CeltaRealMadrid pic.twitter.com/PKnhOgL4Cg
— RC Celta (@RCCelta) August 24, 2023
The home team will stick to the 4-4-2 formation, where Ivan Villar will be in goal. Oscar Mingueza and Manu Sanchez will start out wide as the full-backs. They will have the tough task of dealing with Real Madrid’s attack consisting of Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo.
In the heart of the defence, Carl Starfelt will pair up with Unai Nunez. Luca de la Torre and Jonathan Bamba will feature on the flanks in the centre of the park. They will look to support the full-backs and provide the width to their attacks. Meanwhile, Fran Beltran and Hugo Sotelo will start in the centre of the park. Up top, Jorgen Strand Larsen will have the support of the veteran striker Iago Aspas.
Probable Lineup (4-4-2): Villar; Mingueza, Starfelt, Nunez, Sanchez; De la Torre, Beltran, Sotelo, Bamba; Larsen, Aspas
Real Madrid
Just like Matchday 2, Carlo Ancelotti has a long list of injuries to deal with. The likes of Eder Militao, Thibaut Courtois, Arda Guler, Ferland Mendy and Dani Ceballos are all out injured and unavailable for this fixture.
Real Madrid do not have any new injury concerns and are expected to start with quite a similar XI to the one that took the field against Almeria. Ancelotti will stick with the 4-4-2 formation, where new signing Kepa Arrizabalaga could make his debut after being an unused substitute last time out.
🟠⚔️🔵#RMCity pic.twitter.com/XC94MGUmud
— Real Madrid C.F. 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@realmadriden) August 24, 2023
The back four will remain unchanged, with Fran Garcia and Dani Carvajal starting as the full-backs. And in the heart of the Real Madrid defence, Antonio Rüdiger will pair up with David Alaba.
While Toni Kroos featured last time out, he might return to the bench and Eduardo Camavinga could return to the mix. Meanwhile, Luka Modric could get the first start of the season. The Croat might start ahead of Federico Valverde.
Aurelien Tchouameni will be the defensive midfielder, and Jude Bellingham will continue as the attacking midfielder. As far as the attack is concerned, Vinicius Junior will pair up with his national teammate Rodrygo.
Probable Lineup (4-4-2): Kepa; Carvajal, Rudiger, Alaba, Fran Garcia; Modric, Tchouameni, Camavinga; Bellingham; Rodrygo, Vinicius
Key Stats
- Real Madrid have been unbeaten in their last 18 encounter against Celta Vigo. They have won 16 of those fixtures.
- Los Blancos have won 14 out of their last 16 away fixtures against Celta Vigo.
- Rafael Benítez’s team have only won two out of their last seven home games in the league.
- Los Blancos have only dropped two out of their 15 possible points in the league.
- In Real Madrid’s 3-1 win over Almeria last time out, both teams took a total of 45 shots, it is the second most in a game involving the team in white.
Player to Watch
Jude Bellingham
After a few impressive seasons at Borussia Dortmund where he even wore the captain’s armband, the 20-year-old made the move to Real Madrid in the ongoing transfer window in what was a big-money move. Since joining Los Blancos, Bellingham has been on fire, and it looks like he won’t be easy to stop for any team in the league.
In his opening two La Liga matches, the England international has found the back of the net thrice and also has an assist to his name. The attacking midfielder’s role gives him a lot of freedom and he is making full use of it. Given his red-hot form, he could be the difference between the two teams.
Prediction
Celta Vigo 0-3 Real Madrid
While Celta Vigo secured a hard-fought draw last time out against Real Sociedad, repeating such a heroic against a high-flying Real Madrid looks unlikely. Los Blancos are playing some exceptional football at this point in time and they will be eager to make it three wins in a row.
The home team will surely try their best to restrict Madrid but given the difference in quality of both the teams, the visitors might come out on top with ease. The Hard Tackle predicts an easy 3-0 win for the visitors.
