Real Madrid vs Celta Vigo -Quick reaction to Madrid’s win
By Alex McVey
Real Madrid got all three points in a convincing fashion on the back of a dominant performance by Gareth Bale. Here’s a quick take reaction to the match.
There’s been lots of speculation about Gareth Bale’s future at Real Madrid. With Zidane’s recent puzzling decisions regarding Bale’s place (or lack thereof) in the starting lineup for the Champions League, many have wondered whether the writing was on the wall for Bale.
But a great performance in El Clasico from the Welsh Dragon has added another wrinkle to the ongoing discussions about Bale’s place at Madrid. Bale was a standout performer in Madrid’s hard-fought draw against Barcelona, scoring the equalizing goal.
Against Celta Vigo, Bale showed why Zidane may want to think twice about leaving him out of another Champions League starting XI. Bale’s first goal was smooth, finding room in behind the defenders and cutting inside near the top of the box to fire away a low skipping shot off the post and in.
If Bale’s first goal was nifty, his second goal was outrageous. Bale found space on the right hand flank just inches away from the end line, one-touched the ball past his defender, cut in, and took a divine first-touch shot to blast the ball into the top left corner. It was like something out of a videogame.
With Bale in this hot of form, he’s going to give Zidane something to seriously think about ahead of the Champions League final.
Another player who impressed is young Moroccan right-back Achraf Hakimi. Given an injury to Carvajal, and Nacho just returning to fitness, it made sense for Zidane to give Hakimi some minutes in this match. And Achraf impressed! He was a lot for the Celta back line to handle, and topped off his performance with a goal to boot.
It was good to see Real Madrid not take their foot off the gas, and also to score some serious golazos. Madrid’s results have been shaky, and while their efficiency in the Champions League semifinals saw them through against Bayern Munich, it’s hard to say that Madrid fans were convinced by the quality of the football. This match against Celta gives Madrid an opportunity to get some confidence going ahead of the Champions League final.
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Real Madrid have struggled at home this season, with the Bernabéu looking more like a palace of nerves than a fortress of football. It was great to see Real Madrid round out their last home fixture with an impressive romp against a subpar Celta team.