Real Madrid enter the 16th round of La Liga with the pressure of beating Celta de Vigo at a packed Santiago Bernabéu to try to reclaim the lead they lost to Barcelona. After three straight draws in the league and a convincing 3–0 win over Athletic Bilbao in the middle of the week, Xabi Alonso’s team head into Sunday knowing that anything short of three points only feeds pressure, criticism and doubt at a moment when the season is starting to take on a decisive shape.
Real Madrid can’t afford to waste the chance to close in on the top
The team’s situation mixes renewed confidence with a headache of injuries. Mendy, Alaba, Carvajal, Alexander-Arnold and Huijsen are all out, and Camavinga still isn’t guaranteed to play. It’s a long list. At the same time, the Bernabéu has become a real weapon this season, since Real have won all six league games at home and scored 14 goals in that stretch.
Their midweek performance in the Basque Country strengthened the feeling that they’re getting back on track. The team scored early, controlled the pace and watched Mbappé decide the match with the ease you expect from a star of his size. Results like that steady Real Madrid and build the expectation of an immediate response in La Liga. Even so, the standings demand urgency. Barcelona took the lead while Madrid slipped, and the one point gap shows the title race is wide open but also that there’s no room left for more draws.
Celta try to break a drought that’s lasted almost 20 years
Celta arrive in Madrid on a roller coaster. Their strong start to the season faded, and the team dropped to 12th after losing at home to Espanyol. Their biggest problem is the number of draws, which keeps them from climbing the table. Even so, their form on the road deserves attention, since Celta have picked up 11 points in six away games and have been more competitive outside Vigo than their recent results suggest.
Claudio Giráldez has an important advantage for Sunday. The squad is basically full, which lets him field his best lineup to try to withstand Madrid’s intensity. The win on penalties over Sant Andreu in the Copa del Rey gave the group an emotional lift, although the challenge at the Bernabéu is something else entirely. Their last league win in the stadium came in 2006, a reminder of how heavy the history behind this matchup really is.