Goals from superstar forwards Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Junior secured a vital La Liga win for Real Madrid over Celta Vigo.

Mbappe opened the scoring for Madrid in emphatic fashion in the first half, firing home from 20 yards out, before a goal from Williot Swedberg drew Celta level at the start of the second half.

The introduction of Luka Modric – becoming the oldest player in Madrid history in coming off the bench – would turn the game back in Los Blancos’ favour. The legendary midfielder played a sumptuous through ball to Vini, who subsequently rounded the goalkeeper and tapped home the winning goal.

How the game unfolded

The game was incredibly open in the early stages, with Real Madrid throwing men forward in search of a goal in the way a team usually would in the final five minutes, as opposed to the first ten. That gung-ho attitude to attacking inevitably left plenty of space for Celta Vigo on the counter-attack – space that was so nearly exploited to open the scoring in the seventh minute.

A swift counter-attack culminated in Williot Swedberg finding himself clean through on goal. The 20-year-old rather wilted under the pressure of going through one-on-one with Thibaut Courtois however, with the Madrid goalkeeper brilliantly saving his side-footed effort from just inside the box.

Celta were made to rue that missed chance in the 20th minute when the brilliance of Kylian Mbappe came to the fore. The France international capitalised on some loose play from the home side to latch onto the ball on the edge of the box, before firing high into the top left corner of the net in emphatic fashion.

Another of Madrid’s superstars would come close to doubling his side’s lead immediately after half-time. Jude Bellingham burst down the right flank and drifted past a Celta defender before dragging a well-struck effort narrowly wide of the far post.

Celta would have the next chance of the game up the other end of the park, and would take it. Madrid’s porous defence was once again exploited by Swedberg ad this time he made no mistake with his finish, volleying an Oscar Mingueza cross beautifully into the net.

Madrid had the ball in the back of the net almost immediately from the restart, with Mbappe teeing up Vinicius Junior to tap home from close range. The goal was swiftly ruled out for offside however.

Carlo Ancelotti hooked off Federico Camavinga and Federico Valverde and introduced Luka Modric and Rodrygo Goes, and within a few minutes those changes proved dividends. The ageless Modric provided a wonderful defence-splitting pass into the path of Vinicius Junior, who rounded the goalkeeper and tapped home to give Madrid a 2-1 lead.

Celta came close to equalising on a few occasions, with Jonathan Bamba forcing Courtois into a smart save and Mingueza firing ferocious effort just over the crossbar.

GK: Thibaut Courtois – 7/10 – Made a fantastic save in the first half to deny Swedberg, but couldn’t do much to stop his goal in the second.

RB: Lucas Vazquez – 5/10 – His defensive positioning left a bit to be desired.

CB: Eder Militao – 6/10 – Had to cover for Rudiger way too many times.

CB: Antonio Rudiger – 3/10 – Essentially non-existent defensively. There were far too many occasions where Celta by-passed him with consummate ease.

LB: Fran Garcia – 5/10 – Got forward well at times but struggled a bit defensively, with Celta’s goal coming from his flank.

CM: Federico Valverde – 6/10 – Used the ball well, completing 98% of his passes, but didn’t get through enough work off the ball – as his two duels in an hour attests.

CM: Aurelien Tchouameni – 8/10 – Won 100% of his tackles, seven duels and completed 96% of his passes. You can’t ask for much more than that.

CM: Eduardo Camavinga – 6/10 – His industry teed up the opening goal of the game. Full of running during his time on the pitch.

AM: Jude Bellingham – 6/10 – Put in a proper shift in the middle of the park, winning possession for his team time and time again.

ST: Kylian Mbappe – 7/10 – Scored a stunning goal in the first half of the game. He’s starting to hit his stride in La Liga.

ST: Vinicius Junior – 7/10 – As he so often is, Vini was the match winner for Madrid on Saturday evening, rounding the goalkeeper to secure all three points in the second half.

Substitutes

SUB: Rodrygo Goes (64′ for Camavinga) – 5/10

SUB: Luka Modric (64′ for Valverde) – 7/10

SUB: Ferland Mendy (70′ for Garcia) – 5/10

SUB: Dani Ceballos (82′ for Mbappe) – N/A

Manager – Carlo Ancelotti – 7/10 – His second half substitutions ultimately proved to be the difference between the two sides.

Player of the match: Aurlien Tchouameni (Real Madrid)

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