Real Madrid vs Celta Vigo
Real Madrid and Celta Vigo will face off at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu in contrasting circumstances. While the hosts produced a flying start to their 2021/22 La Liga campaign, the visitors are still trying to find their feet this term.
With football back in attendance at Santiago Bernabeu for the first time since March 2020, Real Madrid will be looking to maintain their unbeaten start to this La Liga campaign (W2, D1). Despite seeing their summer pursuit of star forward come a cropper, ‘Los Merengues’ are unfazed, as witnessed by a record of 2.66 goals scored per league fixture so far. Confidence should be in abundance, with Madrid netting 2+ goals in each of their last nine top-flight H2Hs at home (W8, D1) since an underwhelming 2-1 loss in November 2006. Though Carlo Ancelotti lost to Celta 2-0 at Balaídos during his previous stint at the club, he can be encouraged to know that ‘Los Blancos‘ have since gone unbeaten in 14 consecutive La Liga H2Hs (W12, D2), scoring over 1.5 goals in each of them.
Meanwhile, a 2-1 home defeat to Real’s cross-town rivals Atletico Madrid on the opening weekend initiated Celta’s poor start to the season as they still wait for their first La Liga win in 2021/22 (D1, L2). A 1-0 home loss to Athletic Bilbao marked Celta’s second consecutive top-flight game without scoring. ‘Los Celticos‘ could draw a blank in three La Liga matches in a row for the first time under current manager Eduardo Coudet. A trip to Santiago Bernabeu doesn’t necessarily come in handy, given that the visitors have failed to trouble the scoresheet in three of their last four away La Liga H2Hs. Encouragingly, though, they are unbeaten in three straight top-flight trips (W2, D1), averaging 2.00 goals scored per match, last season included.