That’s all for now. Thanks as always for following along with us and be sure to check back later for a match report.
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Since their last-gasp loss to Barcelona four weeks ago at the Bernabeu, Real Madrid have responded with five straight league wins, scoring 20 goals and conceding five. They’ve now taken a commanding tack on their first league title since 2012, which would give them a shot at the club’s first La Liga/Champions League double in nearly six decades.
Full-time: Celta Vigo 1-4 Real Madrid
There’s the final whistle and Real Madrid have moved tantalizingly close to their first La Liga title in five years with a 4-1 victory at the Estadio Municipal de Balaídos. They’ll need only one point in Sunday’s season finale at Malaga to clinch the trophy.
90 min: The fourth official signals for three minutes of stoppage time.
GOAL! Celta Vigo 1-4 Real Madrid (Kroos, 88 min)
Kroos sidefoots it into the back of the net. Too easy – and a shame after the hosts’ stern resistance through so much of this match.
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85 min: A bit of a chippy denouement here as two players scuffle after a harsh challenge. Pablo Hernandez and Sergio Ramos both shown yellow for the fracas.
84 min: Ronaldo exits to cheers from Madrid’s traveling contingent, joining Isco, who also comes off. Asensio and Lucas step on.
80 min: A second sub for Celta as Pape Cheikh enters for Sisto.
77 min: Isco’s shot from inside the area is turned away by the Celta keeper. Starting to look like Madrid might add at least one more to their tally.
75 min: Real have numbers in attack and, man, a poor miss by Ronaldo, who fails to convert an easy goal from short range with only the keeper to beat. Perhaps a bit of showboating from the Portuguese, who could have easily buried it for a hat trick but took a touch or two too many.
71 min: First substitution for Real Madrid as Kovacic enters for Casimiro. Also a switch for Celta: Diaz on for Jozabed.
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GOAL! Celta Vigo 1-3 Real Madrid (Benzema, 70 min)
So much for that. A quick attack by Real sees Benzema find the pacy Marcelo on the wing, who returns it to the Frenchman for the easy tap-in.
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GOAL! Celta Vigo 1-2 Real Madrid (Guidetti, 69 min)
Well don’t change the channel just yet. Guidetti has just pulled one back for 10-man Celta on a goal that might not offer much in aesthetic value but has halved the deficit just the same. A comical deflection off a defender that somehow loops into the back of the net.
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65 min: Now it seems Celta’s assistant manager has been banished to the stands by the referee for his disputes. Guidetti also shown a yellow.
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64 min: The referee has lost control a bit here. Ronaldo clatters down with incidental contact, a fall at least as dubious as Aspas’ moment ago, and Jonny is shown a yellow for dissent for his vociferous protest.
Iago Aspas sent off!
62 min: Iago Aspas has been sent off! He’s down near the touch line on contact by Sergio Ramos and the referee has shown him a second yellow for simulation! That’s hard luck as the contact was there. Perhaps not a penalty, but not a yellow either.
60 min: We’re at the hour mark and Celta’s will is starting to subside, Real looking more confident with each passing minute.
55 min: Celta to their credit have betrayed no appearance of discouragement and continue to keep possession in the Real half and probe the defense for an opening. But it’s looking increasingly clear like Zizou’s side will come away with at worst one point from today’s proceedings, which could prove crucial.
51 min: Celta win a corner and it’s batted around at the top of the area until the offside flag goes up.
GOAL! Celta Vigo 0-2 Real Madrid (Ronaldo, 47 min)
Guidetti, cursed by two left feet all match, gives it away poorly to ignite a lightning-quick counter by Real. Isco leads the charge and threads a pass to Ronaldo, who slots home for his second of the day.
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Ronaldo’s gunshot of an opener was his 19th goal against Celta in 12 games. But the hosts offered a spirited response over the last 35 minutes, which augurs well for the second half. The players are emerging from the tunnel right now and we should be under way any moment now.
Half-time: Celta Vigo 0-1 Real Madrid
The referee decides no stoppage time is necessary and that’s the first half, an exciting one with only Ronaldo’s clinical 10th-minute finish to separate the sides. Otherwise a largely even matchup with Celta even getting the better of the action for extended stretches.
45 min: Benzema runs onto a pass from Kroos and fires a shot on goal that’s saved by Sergio.
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43 min: Guidetti through on goal again and looks for Aspas but his pass is intercepted. Crowd-pleasing, end-to-end action over the past few minutes.
39 min: And to add insult to injury, Aspas has been booked for dissent, shown a yellow.
38 min: Jonny carries the ball down the left flank to the touchline and tries to cross it and ... it’s a handball! Jonny sees it. The fans see it. The referee does not see it and he’s quick to deny the appeal. Oh dear, that would have been a penalty and it’s been missed!
35 min: Guidetti is through on goal but seems to stumble over himself and runs into a defender. A gorgeous ball and what should have been the best chance of the game for Celta.
34 min: It’s gotten a bit physical over the past few minutes, but nothing too overboard.
31 min: Wass takes it and it’s fired directly at Keylor Navas, who parries it away. The rebound falls to a Celta player, who might have poached it for an equalizer if not for the offside flag.
30 min: Sisto wins a free kick on the edge of the area on a clattering challenge from Casemiro, who is shown a yellow card. Right on the edge of the box, a truly dangerous position and golden chance for Celta.
28 min: Just like that Real snap into attack and win a corner. Then another when the first it cleared past the touch line. But the second is booted down the pitch and Celta slow it down once more and look to set up the attack.
25 min: Celta on the attack again, stringing together short passes as they move down the pitch and open the Real defense, but Pione Sisto makes a poor choice by putting a shot on goal in traffic and sending it high over the woodwork. Still, more encouraging signs for the hosts and Real have yet to find their footing.
22 min: Celta are right on level terms with Real, Ronaldo’s moment of brilliance excepting. They’ve put a few shots on or near the target and are generally on the attack as often as the back foot.
18 min: Celta win a corner, their first. The home team are certainly here to play, and have responded well since going down.
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14 min: Celta’s best opportunity of the match so far as Jonny pounds a shot on goal and Keylor Navas is forced to tumble to the grass in making a save.
GOAL! Celta Vigo 0-1 Real Madrid (Ronaldo, 10 min)
Well ... wow. A long through pass to Marcelo, who finds Ronaldo by himself at the top of the era with just a few too many feet of space conceded by Sergio Álvarez Conde, reduced to the role of bystander. He takes a quick touch and, nearly standing still, uncorks a left-footed shot that all but freezes the keeper as it tears into the back of the net. Just stunning. And what could prove to be a crucial goal in this La Liga title hunt.
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7 min: A patient, measured start for Real, who are keen to attack and get the early goal but confident the chances will come. Encouragingly, Celta have shown attacking initiative in the early going, not content to sit back and defend.
5 min: Benzema carries a long way down the right flank down to the touch line and turns toward the goal but can’t find the final pass. Possession quickly returned to Celta.
3 min: An early attack from Madrid as turned away by a Celta defender. Bad news for Barcelona supporters: the hosts have lost their last five meetings with Real Madrid, all in the Eduardo Berizzo era. Say nothing of their dismal form with zero points from their last five league matches.
1 min: And they’re off! Celta attacking from left to right in traditional home kits, Real from right to left in that strange-looking black and purple third strip.
The players are on the pitch. Not much longer now!
The teams
Here’s a look at today’s teams. That’s five changes for Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane, running his total for the season to 273 across 58 matches. I’m talking depth.
Celta Vigo
XI: Sergio; Mallo, Cabral, Roncaglia, Jonny; Wass, Pablo H, Jozabed; Aspas, Guidetti, Sisto
Subs: Villar, Fontas, Pape, Diaz, Beauve, Hjulsager, Gomez
Real Madrid
XI: Navas; Danilo, Ramos, Varane, Marcelo; Casemiro, Modric, Kroos, Isco; Ronaldo, Benzema
Subs: Casilla, Nacho, Coentrao, Morata, Asensio, Lucas, Kovacic
Referee: Juan Martínez Munuera
Assistant referee 1: Diego Barbero Sevilla
Assistant referee 2: César Manuel Noval Font
Preamble
Hello and welcome to today’s La Liga match between Real Madrid and Celta Vigo. Second-placed Real are level on points with Barcelona atop the table with two matches remaining and, crucially, a game in hand on their rivals. A victory today at the Estadio Municipal de Balaídos and on Sunday at Malaga will guarantee Zinedine Zidane’s side their first league title since 2012.
Zidane, however, refuses to look past Celta, who are 13th in the table.
“I’m only thing about tomorrow’s game and nothing else,” the manager said yesterday in the team’s press room. “Celta are a professional team and will go out to win. Nothing less.
“It’ll be difficult because Celta are a good team. We know that they’re a good opponent and it’ll be difficult, just like it was against Sevilla and will be against Malaga. I’m expecting the same Celta as always. They’ve got a very good team and they’ll play their game. Celta will give everything and it’ll be hard, but we’ll not change what we’ve been doing. We’re going to try to play really well in the two remaining games. What interests me the most is what we’re going to do.”
Plenty more to come ahead of today’s kickoff, which is roughly 25 minutes away.
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Bryan will be here shortly, in the meantime here’s Sid Lowe on Real’s season so far:
Andrés Iniesta was underneath the stand at the Camp Nou, protected by a metal bar as he slowed to halt and a crowd gathered in front of him, arms poking out of a pile of squashed bodies, brightly-coloured sponge thrust towards his face. “What Neymar does is ballet,” Luis Enrique was saying through the door to his right, while to his left Gerard Piqué was about to appear too. “Neymar is magic,” the defender would insist. The Brazilian had danced his way past Villarreal, he, Leo Messi and Luis Suárez all scoring together for the twentieth time to take them past one hundred goals for the third season in a row, and Barcelona were top. But it wasn’t just about them, they knew, and Madrid were playing down in Granada. “Do you have any hope that they might slip up tonight?” Iniesta was asked.
“Well,” he replied, “I think they’re 2-0 up already.”
Er, three, Andrés. The words were barely out of his mouth when 683km away Álvaro Morata’s shot thumped off the bar and into the net. They were doing it again. 3-0 up after 29 minutes at Eibar, 3-0 up after 23 minutes at Leganés, and 2-0 up after 14 minutes at Deportivo, Madrid were 3-0 up after 30 minutes in Granada. Five minutes later, it was four. For the fourth consecutive game away, they had played a “B Team”, for the fifth time in six trips Cristiano Ronaldo didn’t even travel, and yet here they were winning. Even curious case Fabio Coentrao was playing – and the man who sadly admitted that he is not good enough for Madrid, of whom Zidane had accidentally said “he has a thing that hurts … his rectum”, had even clipped in the cross for the second. It was 4-0 at half time; the only surprise was that was the way it stayed.
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