Real Madrid 0-2 Celta: Alonso's side implode with two red cards in shock defeat

Willot Swedberg's brilliant second half double consigned nine-man Real Madrid to a shock 2-0 loss to Celta Vigo at the Santiago Bernabeu on Sunday.

Match Report

Xabi Alonso would have hoped his side could build on their impressive midweek victory over Athletic Bilbao to keep pace with league leaders Barcelona, but the hosts' struggles in front of a low block came to the fore once again.

Madrid were dealt an early blow as Eder Militao was forced off with a hamstring injury in the 24th minute, leaving them with a makeshift defence to see out the contest.

Arda Guler came closest in the first half, dragging a left-footed shot just wide of the post after a strong combination between Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Junior in the 38th minute.

Celta continued to pose a strong threat on the break, though, as Javi Rodriguez and Pablo Duran combined to force Thibaut Courtois into action, while Ionut Radu was forced into a number of diving saves at the other end to deny a slew of well-struck efforts from Guler, Vinicius and Jude Bellingham.

The Galicians struck early after the break as some pedestrian defending opened the door for a splendid, improvised finish from Swedberg, who coolly flicked Byran Zaragoza's cross into the far corner with the outside of his boot.

Madrid's implosion began shortly thereafter as Fran Garcia was shown two yellow cards within the span of two minutes just past the hour mark for careless fouls on Swedberg and Sergio Carreira.

Matters worsened for Alonso's side in stoppage time as Alvaro Carreras was sent off in similar fashion for dissent.

And Swedberg sealed the points with the final kick of the game in spectacular fashion, latching onto Iago Aspas' throughball before rounding Courtois and walking the ball into the net.

The defeat leaves Madrid four points behind Barcelona, while Celta climb to 10th place, level with Elche on 19 points.

Data Debrief: Swedberg haunts Madrid once more

Despite building up plenty of momentum with a confident win over Athletic in midweek, Los Blancos turned out a seriously under-par performance, despite registering an expected goals (xG) total of 2.29 from their 23 attempts to Celta's 1.54 from their seven shots. 

The defeat was their first against Celta in 22 meetings (since May 2014) and their first at home to the Galicians in 19 years.

Indeed, Celta had Swedberg's heroics to thank for their victory. The Swedish international became the first foreign player to score in three or more consecutive LaLiga matches against Madrid since Luis Suarez in October 2018 (also three).

Match Events

0' The match is about to start!

0' Match Event for Real Madrid vs Celta

9' Courtois comes off his line and block Zaragoza's attack

16' Guler swings the corner and Bellingham's header is well saved by Radu

23' Trouble for Real as Militao hits the deck and looks in a decent bit of pain

25' Antonio Rudiger replaces the stricken Eder Militao

35' Guler finds the space for an effort on goal but Radu scrambles down to it

39' Mbappe pops it off to Arda Guler who is off-balance and puts it wide

40' Vinicius Junior hooks a horrid effort high and wide

46' Valverde hammers it towards the top corner but Radu watches it the whole way

47' Vinicius Junior looks for the far corner but Ionut Radu gets down well

54' GOAL! Swedberg breaks the deadlock to stun the hosts! Real Madrid 0-1 Celta

57' Match Event for Real Madrid vs Celta

64' Red Card! Fran García gets two yellow cards in just 1 minute and sent off

73' Vinicius tries a shot which is wide

74' CLOSE! Mbappe lifts the ball over Radu but lands on the roof of the net

78' Mbappe strikes a free-kick but fires straight at Ionut Radu

82' Vinicius Junior is told to get up after going down in the box

92' Red Card! Álvaro Carreras sent off as he picking two yellow cards in 1 minute again

93' GOAL! Real Madrid 0-2 Celta

Line-ups

Real Madrid XI: Courtois, Mbappe, Valverde, Militao, Fran García, Tchouameni, Vinicius, Bellingham, Güler, Álvaro Carreras, Raúl Asencio

Subs: Rudiger, Ceballos, Brahim, Lunin, Rodrygo, Camavinga, Gonzalo García, Endrick, Sergio Mestre, Franco Mastantuono, Joan Martínez

Celta XI: Alonso, Iglesias, Carl Starfelt, Radu, Carreira, Óscar Mingueza, Ilaix Moriba, Bryan Zaragoza, Pablo Durán, Miguel Román, Javi Rodríguez

Subs: Aspas, Villar, Beltran, Ferran Jutglà, Manu Fernández, Javier Rueda, Williot Swedberg, Carlos Domínguez, Damián Rodríguez, Hugo Álvarez, Jones El-Abdellaoui, Yoel Lago