Preview: Preview:Puerto de Vega vs Celta Vigo - prediction, team news, lineups

Celta Vigo will kick off their Copa del Rey campaign when they travel to Asturias for Thursday’s first-round meeting with sixth-tier Puerto de Vega.

The Galician outfit will be harbouring hopes of going deep into the competition, while the hosts will be dreaming of a historic upset against a team competing in the Europa League.

Match preview

Representing the Asturias region, Puerto de Vega had to negotiate a two-legged preliminary-round tie against Alberite to set up a dream tie against a La Liga club

They cruised to a 4-0 victory in the home leg before they played out a 1-1 draw in La Rioja to advance to the first round.

Away from the Copa del Rey, Puerto de Vega have proven to be a tough team to beat in the Primera Asturfutbol, having won three and drawn three of their opening six league games.

Impressively, they have recorded five clean sheets in that period, including a shutout in Sunday’s 2-0 home success against Ribadesella.

They will now be preparing for an eagerly-anticipated game against Celta Vigo, with the hosts needing to pull off an almighty upset to condemn the Galician side to their first round one exit since 1983-84.

Representing the Asturias region, Puerto de Vega had to negotiate a two-legged preliminary-round tie against Alberite to set up a dream tie against a La Liga club.

Celta have experienced a frustrating start to the 2025-26 La Liga campaign, seeing their opening nine matches produce seven draws and two defeats.

With that in mind, Claudio Giraldez’s side would have been relieved to finally claim their first league win of the season in Sunday’s dramatic away game against Osasuna.

Summer signing Ferran Jutgla opened his Celta account before Ante Budimir netted a brace to turn the game in Osasuna’s favour.

Jutgla scored his second to restore parity ten minutes before Budimir’s penalty miss, which was ultimately punished by Pablo Duran’s 87th-minute winner at El Sadar.

That result extended Celta's unbeaten streak to five games in all competitions - a run that includes Europa League wins over PAOK and Nice.

Celta will now look to remain professional and avoid complacency in their opening cup fixture, and they will hope that this is the start of the journey to their first Copa del Rey triumph after previously finishing as runners-up on three occasions.

Puerto de Vega form (all competitions):

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Celta Vigo form (all competitions):

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Team News

Puerto de Vega's Daniel Moreira is a doubt for the cup fixture after being forced off in the first half of the league win over Ribadesella.

Pablo Vilar replaced Moreira at the weekend, and he could now come into the starting lineup for the first-round fixture.

Borja Fernandez should provide one of the home side's main goal threats, having scored twice in five competitive appearances this season.

Meanwhile, Celta will be without Javi Rueda due to a thigh injury, while Williot Swedberg is a doubt because of an ankle issue.

With Giraldez set to make changes, backup shot-stopper Ivan Villar could be given the nod in goal, and there may be places in defence for Yoel Lago and Carlos Dominguez.

There could also be starting spots for the likes of Miguel Roman, Franco Cervi, Fran Beltran and Hugo Alvarez.

Puerto de Vega possible starting lineup:

Torres; Vilar, Rodriguez, Suarez, Da Silva; Silva, Giraudo, Ardura, Riesgo; Fernandez, Trovato,

Celta Vigo possible starting lineup:

Villar; Dominguez, Lago, Fernandez; Carreira, Sotelo, Roman, Beltran, Cervi; El-Abdellaoui, Alvarez, Duran

We say: Puerta de Vega 0-5 Celta Vigo

While Celta could field an experimental lineup for Thursday's contest, they will still expect to dominate their sixth-tier hosts, and with that in mind, we think that the top-flight outfit will cruise to a commanding victory in the first-round tie.