Abanca Balaídos reopened its doors to host the 20th matchday of LALIGA EA SPORTS, the first to be played at home in 2025, on a day marked by intense cold, rain and wind that hardly gave any respite throughout the 90 minutes of the match. A match that started with an emotional minute of silence in memory of all the celtistas who left us along the 2024.
RC Celta took the field with a completely renewed line-up after the intense Copa del Rey match last Thursday. Seven home-grown players started the game, among them, Yoel Lago who accumulates his second start in this competition and the first of this season.
In the early stages of the match, Athletic Club quickly took control of the game, controlling the offensive actions. Meanwhile, Claudio Giráldez’s side tried to create chances with Pablo Durán as the main attacking player, very active in his position and who tried to break the balance on the scoreboard with a long-range shot that failed to find the target. On the other hand, Borja Iglesias and Williot Swedberg’s attacks came up against the Bilbao defence. Ernesto Valverde’s side had a lot of intent in the first half, but they also lacked definition, with their best chance coming from a Nico Williams cross that was deflected wide by Vicente Guaita.
In the second half, Celta were gaining confidence and possession on the pitch, but a mistake on the ball out would trigger a powerful counter by Iñaki Williams in which, in a first attempt, he came up against the sky blue goalkeeper, but the rebound would be seized by Berenguer to put the lions ahead on the scoreboard. Shortly afterwards, Athletic again benefited from an erroneous clearance and Vivian increased the lead for the Basques.
It was a hard blow for Athletic, who never gave up and continued to fight to get back into the game. It was Hugo Álvarez who cleverly stole a ball on the edge of the area and shortened the gap with a low shot that managed to beat Unai Simón. With time running out, Celta continued to fight, looking for the equaliser but the lack of clarity in the final metres and the strength of the Athletic defence prevented a comeback that was very close for the sky blues.
A complicated match that closes a very intense week both sporting and mentally for the players of RC Celta who have faced two rivals of great technical and tactical quality. But also a week from which many positive reflections can be drawn, especially the competitiveness shown by all the players, the youth and determination of the youth players and the team spirit that in the face of adversity is getting stronger.
RC Celta will fight again for the victory next Monday, January 27th, at 21:00h. against Deportivo Alavés at Mendizorroza stadium.
FICHA TÉCNICA:
1 – RC Celta: Vicente Guaita; Javi Rodríguez (Javier Manquillo, min. 69), Yoel Lago, Carlos Domínguez; Sergio Carreira, Fran Beltrán (Ilaix Moriba, min. 63), Hugo Sotelo, Cervi (Óscar Mingueza, min. 46); Pablo Durán, Borja Iglesias (Tasos Douvikas, min. 69) and Williot Swedberg (Hugo Álvarez, min. 46)
2 – Athletic Club: Unai Simón; Gorosabel, Vivian, Yeray, Adama; De Galarreta (Jaureguizar, min. 67), Prados, Unai Gómez (Vesga, min. 82), Iñaki Williams (De Marcos, min. 89), Nico Williams (Yuri, min. 89) and Berenguer (Guruzeta, min. 82).
Goals: 0-1, m. 62: Berenguer. 0-2, m. 70: Vivian. 1-2, m. 74: Hugo Álvarez.
Referee: Ortiz Arias (Madrid committee). Yellow card for Ilaix Moriba (min. 59) and red card for Óscar Mingueza at the end of the match.
Incidents: Match corresponding to matchday 20 of the EA SPORTS LALIGA played at the Abanca Balaídos stadium in front of 22,279 spectators.
