After suffering a serious thrashing at the hands of Barcelona in the Supercopa, Real Madrid will look to get back on track in their Copa del Rey tie against Celta Vigo.
By Neel Shelat
Defence rejig is in order for Real Madrid
On the back of last weekend’s El Clásico humiliation, Carlo Ancelotti will quite likely try to change something in his Real Madrid side. Their depleted defence should get the most attention as it was badly exposed by some relatively simple quick attacking play. It was particularly weak on the right, where Aurélien Tchouaméni was at centre-back and Lucas Vázquez in the full back position.
There were a host of issues in Los Blancos’ defensive block which Ancelotti acknowledged, but they were hardly new developments. Real Madrid had similar weaknesses last season, but their superior player quality masked that in most matches. This term, the season-ending ACL injuries to Dani Carvajal and Éder Militão have simply exacerbated what was always an underlying problem.
Unless the Spanish champions make any signings in the January window, Ancelotti will have to fashion a long-term solution from the limited options he has. 21-year-old Raúl Asencio will be keen to get some more regular game time, while David Alaba could soon become an option having returned from an ACL injury himself.
Star striker Aspas a big miss for Celta
Iago Aspas is still going strong for Celta Vigo at the ripe old age of 37. He is their top scorer in LaLiga with six goals and has three assists to boot, making him the team’s most valuable attacking contributor.
However, the former Liverpool forward suffered a calf injury in Celta’s first match of 2025 – their previous Copa del Rey tie against Racing Santander. He is expected to be out until early February, so Los Celestes will have to find a different source of goals for the next couple of weeks at least.
Celta keen to give Real Madrid’s defence another test
Despite Aspas’ absence, Celta Vigo will back themselves to create some chances against Real Madrid. Although Claudio Giráldez’s men ended up on the losing side when the two teams met earlier in the season, they managed to outshine the defending champions both in terms of the quality and quantity of chances created.
Indeed, Celta have sustained a pretty impressive level of attacking output so far this season. They are sixth in the league in terms of goals as well as xG and also have the fifth-highest possession average. Although they will most likely not do as well as Barcelona, they certainly have the potential to put some slick moves together.
Real Madrid’s spotless head-to-head record
Real Madrid have won each of their last nine fixtures against Celta Vigo in a run that predates Carlo Ancelotti’s appointment. Their head-to-head unbeaten run stretches back almost eight years, though their last defeat did come in a Copa del Rey tie at the Santiago Bernabéu. One Iago Aspas was the star of the show that day with a goal and assist.
Prediction
As is so often the case, Real Madrid’s superior player quality should just about get them over the line.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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