There is a version of Real Madrid’s 2-1 win at Celta Vigo that looks like resilience, late drama, and championship mentality. There is another version that looks like a deeply flawed squad scraping past a mid-table side before nearly collapsing at the end.
Both versions are accurate, which is why the mood around the Bernabéu remains uneasy despite the result technically keeping Los Blancos within a point of Barcelona at the top of LaLiga.
The match arrived after consecutive defeats to Osasuna and Getafe had seen Madrid surrender their lead at the summit and prompted genuine questions about Álvaro Arbeloa’s management of a squad stripped bare by injury.
Kylian Mbappé and Jude Bellingham were both absent through injury, which meant Madrid’s attack carried significantly less threat than Celta had faced the last time the two sides met, and the hosts’ early confidence reflected that awareness.
Aurélien Tchouaméni gave Madrid the lead in the 11th minute, guiding a Arda Güler corner delivery with his right foot inside the post in a movement that looked almost too controlled for a centre-midfielder in a set-piece situation.
Celta equalised 14 minutes later, Borja Iglesias finding the net after being played in by Williot Swedberg — and from that point the match entered an uncomfortable second half where Thibaut Courtois made several key interventions to prevent the hosts from winning it outright.
The clearest of those interventions came when Iago Aspas, introduced as a substitute, struck the post in the 87th minute and Ferland Mendy produced a last-ditch block — a moment that, had it gone differently, would have left Madrid three points further back with eight games remaining.
Instead, four minutes into stoppage time, Valverde picked up a loose ball on the edge of the Celta penalty area, struck a firm shot that deflected off former Barcelona defender Marcos Alonso, and watched it wrong-foot goalkeeper Ionut Radu on its way into the net.
Celta immediately protested that there had been a foul in the build-up before Valverde’s shot, a claim that generated a sustained refereeing debate in Spain but did not alter the result, with the final whistle following shortly after the goal was confirmed.
“There’s a long way to go in La Liga, a lot of points left to play for,” Arbeloa told reporters. “At this point it’s almost like La Liga has not started yet.” That framing was ambitious given the circumstances, but Arbeloa called Valverde “everything a Real Madrid player should be,” a sentiment that was much harder to argue against.
The win kept Madrid on 63 points, one behind Barcelona who had a game in hand, while Atlético Madrid sit a distant third on 51 points and are no longer seriously considered title contenders despite their strong defensive numbers.
Valverde’s ability to produce decisive interventions in matches where Madrid look nothing like champions is either a sign of the squad’s mental fortitude or a sign that they are too dependent on one player’s late heroics to be considered genuine title favourites — the evidence of the last three weeks supports both conclusions simultaneously.