Copa del Rey 2016/17: Real Madrid 1-2 Celta Vigo: 5 Talking Points
Real Madrid slipped to a 2-1 defeat against Celta Vigo at the Santiago Bernabeu after a spirited performance from the visitors. This was the Los Blancos’ second defeat in a row after losing 2-1 to Sevilla in La Liga.
Manager Zinedine Zidane opted to start with Cristiano Ronaldo, Marco Asensio and Lucas Vasquez as the front three but eventually brought on Alvaro Morata and Karim Benzema as the game wore on, but the Madrid club could not win on the night. Real Madrid have now lost two after their record-breaking 40-game unbeaten run.
Here are the talking points:
#1 Celta’s man marking and tactics
Celta Vigo manager Eduardo Berizzo was an assistant manager to the infamous Marcelo Bielsa at Chile and if there was a good example of the effect that Bielsa had on him, it was against Madrid. Celta lined up with a seemingly dynamic 4-2-3-1 that became a 4-3-3 without the ball, to match Real Madrid man for man on the pitch. What was particularly striking was the relentless man marking by Celta’s midfielders on the Madrid central midfielders.
Kroos, Modric and Casemiro were man marked by Diaz, Radoja and Hernandez on numerous occasions, while the Celta trio also harried them constantly when they were on the ball. Of course, the Madrid midfield trio could dribble out of trouble and create openings but it was made much more difficult for them by the Celta Vigo midfielders. As a result, Real were made to go wide and put in crosses while Celta got bodies back quickly, getting numbers in the box.
The Celta defence stayed tight on the Madrid forward line, kept shape throughout the game (although it was slightly off at times) and made it difficult for Los Blancos to break them down. They weren’t pressing high, it was a medium press, but they played with high intensity and made life very difficult for Real Madrid to score.