Celta Vigo gear up to face Real Madrid at home; can they finally break the home curse?Carlos Volcano

The Vigo team is aiming to secure European qualification this season after spending several years away from continental competition. On the other hand, Los Blancos are determined to defend their title and are looking to close the gap on FC Barcelona in the lead up to the upcoming EL CLASICO match at the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu.

RC Celta are without star man Iago Aspas but Borja Iglesias is in good form

The Galician side will have to make do without their captain and leader Iago Aspas, as he is suspended following his red card in their last game against UD Las Palmas. Although they won that match, Ilaix Moriba was sent off as well and he too will miss this upcoming duel. 

Despite those absences, RC Celta enter this matchday with confidence thanks to a good start to the season and thanks to the good form of Borja Iglesias, who scored the winning goal in that last match. Óscar Mingueza is another player who has been impressive so far this season, so much so that he was called up again by Spain coach Luis de la Fuente in the international break. In the first full season under Claudio Giráldez, this is a team with a clear and structured way of playing. 

Real Madrid face their first fixture without Dani Carvajal

As for Real Madrid, they are also missing an important player considering starting right-back Dani Carvajal suffered a major injury last game. Given that he is probably the best in the world in his position right now, this could be a tough absence for Los Blancos to overcome this season and Carlo Ancelotti will have to find solutions, with Lucas Vázquez expected to come in.

If there is a team that can overcome adversity then it’s Real Madrid. Now, the squad has to show that they can overcome the loss of the Euro 2024 champion, suffered in the final minutes of their recent win over Villarreal CF at the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu. 

Everyone at Real Madrid knows that they need to keep racking up points if they want to stay within touching distance of FC Barcelona, something which is especially key considering ELCLASICO is coming up the following matchday, on October 26th. The good news for the capital city club is that Kylian Mbappé and Vinícius should be in optimal condition after overcoming minor injury niggles. 

Real Madrid haven’t lost at the Estadio ABANCA Balaídos in 10 years

Real Madrid have a good record at the Estadio ABANCA Balaídos, as they haven’t lost there in 10 years, not since Matchday 37 of the 2013/14 LALIGA EA SPORTS season when RC Celta triumphed 2-0 to thwart Real Madrid’s title hopes, with that year’s championship ultimately going to Atlético de Madrid. Since that setback, however, Real Madrid have never lost in Vigo. They’ve visited 10 times in the league and achieved nine victories plus one draw.

Although they regularly collect three points from their trips to Vigo, Los Blancos did lose a Copa del Rey tie against RC Celta in 2017, when the Galicians won the first leg away and earned a draw at home to progress. Having failed to defeat Real Madrid in front of their home fans in over a decade, RC Celta will be determined to end this drought this weekend, especially considering confidence is high and considering they’re not in the relegation battle this season. 

Two teams playing an attacking style

Both Claudio Giráldez and Carlo Ancelotti have overseen a lot of offensive football this season, with Real Madrid having scored the second-most goals in LALIGA EA SPORTS and RC Celta the fourth-most. There are actually only three goals of difference, with Real Madrid having netted 19 times and RC Celta 16, so it’s clear that these are two teams capable of getting into the opposition’s penalty area and causing problems. 

RC Celta look to get forward using a 3-4-3, although they can also play in a 3-5-2 and this shouldn’t be ruled out given the absences they have to deal with and given how strong Real Madrid can be in midfield. The big question mark is over who’ll replace Iago Aspas in the starting line-up. 

As for Los Blancos, they started the season with a 4-3-3 but their Italian coach has tweaked this towards a 4-4-2 and handed extra freedom to Vinícius and Mbappé in attack. The question here is whether they reintroduce Rodrygo and return to a 4-3-3 or continue with four in the middle with Eduardo Camavinga accompanying Fede Valverde, Luka Modrić and Jude Bellingham. What is clear is that this promises to be a fun game between two attack-minded teams, no matter the exact formations.