Real Madrid made it four wins from four matches under the leadership of Santiago Solari with a 4-2 success away to Celta Vigo in La Liga on Sunday night.
Los Blancos remain sixth in La Liga despite recording a second successive league win, but are now just four points off division leaders Barcelona, who lost 4-3 at home to Real Betis on Sunday afternoon.
Read how it al unfolded in Sports Mole's minute-by-minute live commentary of the action below.
Evening! Welcome to Sports Mole's live commentary of the La Liga clash between Celta Vigo and Real Madrid from Vigo. Real Madrid will be looking for their fourth straight win in all competitions tonight. Indeed, Santiago Solari has led the team to three wins from his three matches in temporary charge, and Los Blancos will fancy their chances of overcoming a Celta side that has won just one of their last eight in Spain's top flight. Stay tuned for live minute-by-minute updates.
Real Madrid put six unanswered goals past Celta at the Bernabeu in their last league meeting, but the points were shared in a 2-2 draw in Vigo back in January. Los Blancos have actually won seven of the last eight league meetings between the two teams, with Celta not triumphing since May 2014. Worryingly for Celta, Real Madrid have scored 21 times in their last five league meetings.
Right, without further ado, let me bring you up-to-speed with the all-important team news from Vigo. Have Real Madrid managed to recover any injured players for this one? Let's have a look...
TEAMS
CELTA VIGO: Sergio; Mallo, Roncaglia, Cabral, Junca; Mendez, Beltran, Okay, Boufal; Aspas, Gomez
REAL MADRID: Courtois; Odriozola, Ramos, Nacho, Reguilon; Modric, Kroos, Casemiro; Lucas, Benzema, Bale
Celta are without the services of Stanislav Lobotka and Mathias Jensen through injury, but Emre Mor is fit enough for the bench. Iago Aspas will be joined by Maxi Gomez in the final third of the field, while on-loan Southampton midfielder Sofiane Boufal and Brais Mendez start in the wide positions. Aspas and Gomez have scored 14 of Celta's 20 La Liga goals this season.
© Reuters
As for Real Madrid, it will be a case of 'same again' for Solari when it comes to his back four. Indeed, Dani Carvajal, Raphael Varane, Jesus Vallejo and Marcelo are still all on the sidelines, meaning options are limited. Nacho will continue alongside Sergio Ramos at centre-back, with Alvaro Odriozola and Sergio Reguilon both enjoying the chances handed to them in the full-back positions. Luka Modric returns to the XI having been left on the bench for Wednesday's Champions League clash with Viktoria Plzen, while Lucas Vazquez is preferred to Marco Asensio and Isco.
Real Madrid are far from over their problems this season, but there finally seems to be light at the end of the tunnel, with interim boss Solari leading the team to three wins from his three matches in charge. In truth, the fixture list has been kind to Solari. Indeed, his first game in charge brought a 4-0 win over Melilla in the Copa del Rey, before Los Blancos put three much-needed La Liga points on the board with a 2-0 success over Real Valladolid at the Bernabeu last weekend.
🏟👋 We've arrived! #RMLiga pic.twitter.com/J43gkHWWPR — Real Madrid C.F. 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@realmadriden) November 11, 2018
Wednesday's 5-0 win away to Viktoria Plzen was extremely impressive, however, and Madrid are now on a run of four wins from their last five games in all competitions. That said, the European champions have only won one of their last six in the league, suffering four defeats in the process.
In truth, Real Madrid should probably be in a worse position at this stage, but the teams around them have also been dropping points. The capital giants sit sixth, and a win tonight would put them to within four points of league leaders Barcelona, who suffered a shock 4-3 home defeat to Real Betis this afternoon. Los Blancos have the chance to put a run of wins on the board, meanwhile, as their next five in the league are against Celta, Eibar, Valencia, Huesca and Rayo Vallecano.
There have certainly been some teething problems in the post-Cristiano Ronaldo era, but this is still a squad full of winners, and one that will fancy their chances of overcoming Celta. Real Madrid are far from full strength once again, however, with Solari still without a number of key defenders, although the international break should give the club the chance to recover some players.
⚽🔥 How many of these Balaídos GOALS can YOU remember? #RMLiga pic.twitter.com/QogjO22X8m — Real Madrid C.F. 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@realmadriden) November 11, 2018
Three wins, five draws and three defeats - that is how Celta have performed in their 11 La Liga games this term. A total of 14 points has left them in 14th spot in the table, but they are only actually three points behind sixth-placed Real Madrid ahead of tonight's clash.
Celta have posted three top-half finishes since returning to La Liga in 2012, but they have ended each of the last two campaigns in 13th position. There is no question that Celta have the squad to improve on that position, but just three wins from 11 matches this term will be a slight disappointment for the fans. On the flip side, Celta have suffered just three defeats. Two of those have come in their last four matches, but they returned to winning ways with a 4-0 success over Eibar on October 27 before drawing 3-3 with Real Betis last weekend.
Celta were thumped 6-0 by Real Madrid at the Bernabeu in May, but the points were shared in a 2-2 draw in the reverse league match last season, and it would be fair to say that Los Blancos have had their problems this season. Aspas and Gomez have scored 14 of Celta's 20 league goals this term, and those two will be key to the home side's chances of success tonight. Real Madrid still have their problems in a defensive area, and that should create a fascinating battle in this match.
AFOUTEZA e CORAZÓN 💪🏻💙
⌚️ 20:45
🏟️ #ABANCABalaídos
🖥 beIN Sports LaLiga#CeltaRealMadrid #HaiMotivos pic.twitter.com/kDpgUjx4Y8 — Fran Beltrán. (@franbeltran__) November 11, 2018
Only Barcelona and Sevilla have scored more league goals than Celta this season, while Real Madrid have already conceded 14 times. Celta have had their problems in recent months, but Antonio Mohamed's side will bring a three-match unbeaten run into this contest.
Real Madrid put six unanswered goals past Celta at the Bernabeu in their last league meeting, but the points were shared in a 2-2 draw in Vigo back in January. Los Blancos have actually won seven of the last eight league meetings between the two teams, with Celta not triumphing since May 2014. Can the home side collect all three points tonight? Stay tuned as kickoff is next!
KICKOFF: Real Madrid kick things off in Vigo...
SAVE! ... Alvarez has to get down to keep out a low strike from Benzema following smart work from Odriozola in a wide position. Really good goalkeeping from the Spaniard there.
CLOSE! Benzema, again. The striker has loads of time inside the Celta box and turns and fires the ball towards the bottom corner, but his effort is just wide. Celta living dangerously!
CLOSE! Chance for Celta this time as Boufal's strike flies across the Real Madrid box, and Aspas is close to making contact. Very, very open game at the moment as both teams press.
Possession football from Real Madrid as they pass and probe here.
Casemiro has just taken a really, really late challenge, and it looks a bad one.
The tackle from Gomez was very late, and Casemiro looks in a bit of trouble, but some of the initial concern seems to have eased. He is very lucky to escape a serious injury there.
Somehow, Casemiro is back and walking off the pitch. He might even continue, which is incredible when considering that his leg seemed to move in a completely different direction.
Casemiro is indeed back. And Real Madrid are on the front foot here.
CLOSE! Bale has just headed a Lucas cross over the Celta goal.
CLOSE! Kroos misses the crossbar with a curling effort from distance.
Courtois does well to keep out an effort from Gomez, but the striker was offside.
It is a very, very open game here as both teams continue to commit players forward. Neither defence looks too secure to be honest so surely there will be goals in Vigo tonight.
Casemiro has just signalled to the bench that he might have to come off here. It was a nasty one, and was a huge surprise that he managed to continue. Ceballos is getting himself ready.
REAL MADRID SUB! Casemiro is replaced by Dani Ceballos.
OFF THE POST! Oh my word! Celta come very close to taking the lead as Okay rises highest to meet a corner, and the midfielder's header comes off the foot of the post! Very unlucky there.
SHOT! Ceballos misses the Celta post with a strike from distance.
GOAL! CELTA VIGO 0-1 REAL MADRID (BENZEMA)
Real Madrid make the breakthrough in the 23rd minute as Benzema breaks into the Celta box and manages to slide the ball past Alvarez! Sharp finishing from the centre-forward there.
Stunning pass from Modric to release Benzema, whose first touch was just sublime.
Celta now have a free kick in a dangerous position as Ramos fells Gomez...
... Benzema heads Mallo's free kick out of the penalty box.
A win for Real Madrid tonight would leave them just four points off leaders Barcelona, which is incredible when considering their recent form. Still a long way to go in this game though.
Celta manage to break clear down the left, but Real Madrid have a lot of bodies back, and manage to make a couple of important blocks before Ramos wins a free kick for his team.
Quite a bitty game at the moment as the referee is forced to intervene following a number of late challenges. You do get the feeling that the next goal in this match will be absolutely vital.
CLOSE! Excellent goalkeeping from Alvarez to claw away a cross from Reguilon.
CHANCE! Stunning chance for Real Madrid as Benzema drives into the Celta box before putting a low cross on a plate for Kroos, but the German international somehow misses the crossbar!
Mallo is down the right for Celta before delivering a low cross into the Real Madrid box, but Ramos is on hand to make the clearance. End-to-end football in Vigo, with the visitors ahead.
YELLOW CARD! Reguilon (Real Madrid) is booked for an elbow on Mendez.
YELLOW CARD! Cabral (Celta) is booked for a late tackle on Benzema.
YELLOW CARD! Mallo (Celta) is booked for a foul on Bale.
SAVE! Excellent save from Courtois to keep out a strike from Aspas!
YELLOW CARD! Junca (Celta) is booked for a late tackle on Odriozola.
REAL MADRID SUB! The away side are forced into another change as Javi Sanchez takes the place of Reguilon, who limps off the field. Another blow for Real Madrid.
HALF TIME: CELTA VIGO 0-1 REAL MADRID
So there we have it. The referee brings the first period to a close with Real Madrid leading Celta 1-0 courtesy of an excellent finish from Benzema in the 23rd minute. The home side have had their moments, but Benzema's strike sees the European champions lead 1-0 at the interval.
STATISTICS! Real Madrid just shaded the possession with 51%, while the away side had eight attempts, two of which were on target. Celta, meanwhile, hit the target with one of their eight attempts. Four yellow cards to report in the first half here - Reguilon, Cabral, Mallo and Junca.
BENCH WATCH! Real Madrid have already been forced into two changes here, with Ceballos and Javi Sanchez replacing injured pair Casemiro and Reguilon. As for Celta, head coach Mohamed has the likes of Mor, Jozabed and Kevin on his bench. Will the hosts make any changes at the break?
KICKOFF: Celta resume the action here...
... no changes from Celta at the interval, but I suspect that head coach Mohamed will have alterations in mind if something does not change here. Let's hope for a good second period.
You do get the feeling that Celta will need to score the game's next goal in order to stand a chance of picking up a positive result. The hosts have the ball early in the second period.
CHANCE! Big chance for Celta to level as Aspas meets a deep cross at the far post, but his header is wide of the post! Should have done better from that position.
OFF THE BAR! Benzema hits the crossbar with an excellent strike!
YELLOW CARD! Sanchez (Real Madrid) is booked for a trip on Mendez.
GOAL! CELTA VIGO 0-2 REAL MADRID (CABRAL OG)
Real Madrid have their second of the match following some sloppy defending from Celta. There is a huge slice of luck about the goal, however, as Benzema's strike is saved by Alvarez onto the post, and the ball then hits Cabral before dropping into the back of the net.
Celta are in trouble here as Real Madrid continue to move the ball in the final third.
GOAL! CELTA VIGO 1-2 REAL MADRID (MALLO)
Now then! Celta are right back in this match as Mallo makes an excellent run into the Real Madrid box, and finishes a chipped Mendez pass past Courtois! Wonderful finish there.
CELTA SUBS! Hjulsager and Mor replace Beltran and Boufal.
Little over 25 minutes of football remaining, and surely there are more goals left in this.
Nacho has picked up an injury here. Bale to left-back?!
SAVE! Excellent save from Courtois to keep out a powerful strike from Aspas!
REAL MADRID SUB! Asensio has replaced Nacho for the away side.
Celta are on the front foot at the moment, and with Vazquez playing left-back for Real Madrid, the home side will feel that they will have chances before the night is out here.
Bale races clear down the left before delivering a low cross into the Celta box, but there are no takers. Celta then regain control of the ball as they look to level the scores here.
Not too much to report at the moment, but Celta are the team on the front foot.
Pass, pass, pass from Celta as they look to work some space in the final third of the field.
PENALTY! Real Madrid have a penalty as Odriozola is brought to the ground by Junca!
VAR are just having a look at the incident here.
GOAL! CELTA VIGO 1-3 REAL MADRID (RAMOS, PEN)
Ramos sends his penalty past Alvarez for 3-1! Another chip down the middle!
Celta just have not really had enough quality in the final third of the field tonight.
RED CARD! Cabral (Celta) receives his second yellow card for a late tackle on Sanchez.
Real Madrid are almost there as they close on their fourth straight win under Solari.
GOAL! CELTA VIGO 1-4 REAL MADRID (CEBALLOS)
Real Madrid have their fourth of the match as Ceballos finds the back of the net with a wonderful strike from distance. That caps an excellent performance from the away side.
We are into the fourth and final minute of added time in Vigo.
GOAL! CELTA VIGO 2-4 REAL MADRID (MENDEZ)
Celta have their second late on as Mendez's effort is deflected past Courtois!
FULL TIME: CELTA VIGO 2-4 REAL MADRID
So there we have it. Real Madrid make it four straight wins in all competitions with a 4-2 success away to Celta in La Liga. Thanks for joining Sports Mole for our live coverage once again. See you soon!
