Why Real Madrid fans should be rooting for Celta Vigo in their Europa League clash with Manchester United

Think Real Madrid’s week in European football is over? Think again. Celta Vigo’s Europa League match against Manchester United will be huge for the La Liga title race. Alex McVey is here to tell you why Real Madrid fans should be rooting for Celta.

Real Madrid fans have had a pretty good week in European football. Real demolished their neighbors from the Spanish capital 3-0, taking one huge step forward toward the final.

They then got a good idea of who they might have to face in the final. The seemingly unstoppable force finally met the unmovable object that would budge no further, as the stalwart defense of Juventus shut down the blazing offense of Monaco while also managing to score two crucial away goals.

Normally, it would be time for Madridistas to turn off their TVs and start getting ready for the important La Liga match in the upcoming weekend. However, Madrid fans have a special reason to care about the semifinals of the Europa league.

Celta Vigo takes on Manchester United for the first leg of their Europa League semifinal clash today, starting at 3:05 PM (Eastern US). This is the same Celta Vigo team that managed to knock Los Blancos out of the Copa del Rey earlier this season.

More from The Real Champs

So, should Madrid fans be cheering on the Red Devils from Manchester out of spite and vengeance?

Not at all. In fact, Real Madrid fans should be cheering the loudest for Celta to upset Mourinho’s men. Aside from the value added to La Liga that comes from the exposure from winning the Europa league, Real Madrid fans only stand to gain from Celta advancing to the Europa League finals.

The reason? Real Madrid still have a crucial game in hand left in their title chase. The game they have left to play is, of course, the match against Celta Vigo. This match was postponed after an intense storm destroyed parts of the Balaidos stadium where Vigo was supposed to play.

Real Madrid fought like hell to try to appeal the postponement when it initially occurred. At the time, Celta Vigo was still fighting to stay in the Copa Del Rey, and was playing a weakened and rotated squad in the league.

For the same reasons, Real will now be hoping that good fortune comes to the team from Galicia.

The final for the Europa League will take place on May 24^th. The last scheduled day of La Liga is May 21^st. While it has not yet been scheduled, there is a good chance that the La Liga match against Celta Vigo will be rescheduled sometime before Celta’s Europa League showdown.

That would be great for Real Madrid. Celta is currently sitting in 11^th place in the league, with no real chance to catch up to the European places. That means their last remaining shot at European football next year comes in the form of the golden ticket secured by winning the Europa League.

With a historic Champions League berth at stake for Celta, their coach Eduardo Berizzo has decided to throw caution to the wind and use the La Liga matches to rest a number of key players in his squad for the Europa League.

If they also had to play in the Europa League final, Celta would almost certainly do the same against Real Madrid if the match were scheduled beforehand. That would completely change the dynamic of the La Liga title race, as Celta is one of the most likely places where Madrid could drop points in their remaining fixtures.

Next: Dani Carvajal to miss remaining La Liga games

So, while Madridistas may be feeling salty about being dumped out of the Copa del Rey unceremoniously, they shouldn’t let their schadenfreude get the best of them. The best possible outcome for Real Madrid is a Celta Vigo victory over two legs against Manchester United.

Home/Analysis