Did Postponing the Celta Match Hurt Real Madrid?: Point – Counterpoint with The Real Champs

Following a storm with intense winds that blew off part of their stadium’s roof, Celta Vigo were forced to postpone their match against Real Madrid. Many seem to think this has dealt a blow to Real Madrid, who were hoping to get revenge against the Celta side that knocked them out of the Copa del Rey. But is that actually the case? It’s up for debate! So, we here at The Real Champs decided to hash out the pros and cons with a little Point vs Counter-Point.

Tyler Mascheranas: Postponing is bad for Madrid.

In my opinion, postponing the match was the worst thing possible for Real Madrid. While injured players could return for Los Blancos in the coming weeks (players such as James and Gareth Bale), rescheduling the match was a bad idea for a few reasons which can be found below:

1. Real Madrid already prepared for the match

2. Real Madrid will now face a full Celta side, which can be very dangerous (as we saw with the Copa del Rey quarterfinals). They previously would have rotated the squad in order to focus more on the Copa, something the Vigo side could actually strive to accomplish

3. The rescheduled match will probably be played midweek, disrupting and challenging our already full schedule

While I see your reasoning in saying that the postponement of the Celta Vigo match is a bad thing Tyler, I see it as a good thing. First of all, Real Madrid are a beat up team right now with 6 key players (James, Bale, Carvajal, Modric, Marcelo, and Pepe) all still recovering from injuries.

With the delaying of the match today, these players get more time to rehab and recuperate and get more time to prepare for this match and for matches in the near future, given that the team doesn’t need to travel to Celta and can stay in Madrid and train more. Secondly, while the preparations for the match might have been thrown off a little bit, a delay only gives Zidane and his coaches more time to analyze the Celta team ,who, got the upper hand on Los Blancos in the Copa Del Rey just last week.

The only problem I see from the game being delayed is that there will be either a Champions League game or this game and another La Liga game played very closely together, probably midweek like Tyler says. But, I think in this case the pros outweigh the cons.

The postponing at first sight seems like a good thing. Since that means we will get more time so our injured players can recover. However, when thinking about it for a few minutes, it doesn’t seem to favor Los Blancos. Postponing the game means that it will probably be at a time when we are already in the UCL QF or semis (hopefully), and by that time we will need our full firepower. In my opinion, it was the perfect time for the game. The Balaidos game is always a complicated one, but this time, with Varane, Ramos and Casemiro available, it seemed like we could actually get a clean sheet. Also, Cristiano is slowly getting back on form. So all in all, for me I hope this game is postponed to a time after the UCL semis.

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In the battle of momentum vs. rest, I’m going to have to come down on the side of rest. While Real Madrid has plenty of options in the midfield and attack, we’re still looking quite thin on the defensive side. An injury to the likes of Varane, Nacho, or Ramos right now would be devastating, and those players have all been getting a lot of minutes this season. Especially given the extra trip Madrid had to take to Japan this winter for the Club World Cup, Real should be relishing any chance they get for a break. And Ahmed, while it is true that Ronaldo looks like he may have been starting to bust his slump, it is also worth remembering that he was limping a bit toward the end of the Real Sociedad match. If Ronaldo’s knee problems are starting to flare up, this break in between fixtures might be a real blessing in disguise. It’s a tough call, but I’m coming down on the side of appreciating Madrid’s extended break, rather than resenting it.