On the bench: 📑 Our team this afternoon 💙#AthleticCelta pic.twitter.com/BvGTnBcD03— RC Celta English (@RCCeltaEN) May 20, 2023 In as an early sub: Se retira Fran con molestias 🔄🔺 Sale Beltrán🔻 Entra Luca24' | 1-0 | #AthleticCelta pic.twitter.com/UcDn7EaNr8— RC Celta (@RCCelta) May 20, 2023
Fourth defeat in a row (2-1) and with Beltran out injured (the guy Luca replaced) they're in trouble. Luca subpar. Avoid their boards.
Not deep trouble yet, but a legit concern. They are going to need a result in these last 3 matches however. The bottom dwellers all seem to have sharpened their games, and other teams have figured out the new coach‘s system a bit at Celta. LDLT IMO doing the best he can. Shocking to think Valencia could pass them with a win considering how poor they looked. Here‘s hoping both can stay up. Been tough for both of our guys recently. Girona at home next week and in Cadiz the following week. End at Barca with zero to play for. Very doable and the path is there.
Suspended: Luca de la Torre is serving a yellow-card suspension and is not in the squad for Celta Vigo vs. Girona. Celta Vigo are in a poor stretch having lost 4 in a row and are 4 points clear of the relegation zone with 3 games remaining (including this one) https://t.co/vgju9aVPPG— Brian Sciaretta (@BrianSciaretta) May 23, 2023
Barcelona and Real Madrid are already on the beach having fun, basically. Celta will be ok, and so will be Valencia. Espanyol and Getafe are goners.
So, things are starting to get interesting. Before this past weekend, Celta's odds off relegation were 2% according to 538. And in spite of a pretty standard result of a draw at home v. upper-mid table Girona, their chances of going down have since quadrupled due to some upsets in favor of the teams below them. The first unfortunate 1 was Valladolid defeating Barca, and today Getafe upended Betis on the road. Now Celta's relegation chances are 8% according to 538. So it's getting into the realistic range. Point-wise, the difference is just 2. And I know Getafe, for one, holds the head-to-head tiebreaker. Celta may need to win 1 of their last 2. The finale is against Barca. You can't just assume they're not going to try at all & they have the superior team of course. Then Celta also have a big head to head vs. Cadiz next. Cadiz could leapfrog them. And they play at home. It's squeaky bum time.
On the bench: ✅ XI en el césped🚍 Cientos en la grada💙 Miles con nuestros colores #CádizCelta pic.twitter.com/holmwt3mhA— RC Celta (@RCCelta) May 28, 2023 Trailing 1-0 in the 55th.
Luca came in at the start of the second half. Got a yellow in the 3' of the SH. Cadiz scored in the 7'. 1-0.
Rough start of the second half for Celta Vigo. LDLT was completely blameless on the goal, so that's something I guess. RC Celta are really limping to the finish line.
And Celta lose again. They fall to 17th in the table, just 1 point above the drop zone. They'll have to hold off Valladolid, who play at home against fellow relegation-battler Getafe. Meanwhile, Celta face Barca. They have nothing to play for, but are also the champs, and flattened Mallorca today. So I'd say Celta are in big danger. 538 have them w/ a 33% chance to drop. Were 8% before today. 2% a week before that. It's similar to LDLT's last season in the Eredivisie where Heracles plummeted at the end, before ultimately being relegated. As for LDLT's individual performance, he was mediocre to sub par, so pretty typical. Finished w/ a 6.4 rating on Sofascore, for 2nd lowest on the team. Seems about right. Coming off yellow card suspension, he got another one about 1 minute after coming on. Just recklessly ran thru the back of a guy's legs. Does that a lot. Positive in pressures, but over does it at times. He tried to shoot a few times actually in this one. They were virtual no chancers. Didn't really create for anybody. Dribbled forward mostly, outside the goal allowed which was a back dribble into his box, which led to an incomplete clearance. Minimal culpability, but no, not completely blameless. A few over-aggressive dribbles led to TO's. Some tepid ball circulation. That was it.
The Good: It's impossible for both Valencia and Celta to drop. The Bad: Celta is looking terrible and on form alone are in serious danger now. The Ugly: Musah is no longer playing, not even RB.
As with Valencia, Celta survival depends more on Getafe IMO, who need a point to absolutely secure safety, who play at Real Val who have to win no matter what. If Real Val win the only way Celta and Valencia stay up is if they both win. That ain‘t happening. Even if Celta survive most fans see LDLT as a player they desperately need to upgrade. Fine for the bench but not as a starter. The honeymoon is way over.
Agreed. My friends have been watching all the sport talk shows there as this crucial match day comes closer. What teams need to do and what they need moving forward. LDLT was clearly considered a weaker spot on a weaker team. Fans aren‘t scapegoating from what I see. He is fine, but they just need more, and for price/youth, they feel they should be able to get it there. Most being very pragmatic. They know what they are. Asking as they survive and the coach remains LDLT has a good chance. With a coaching change…..
Starts: 📋✅ ¡Nuestro 𝗫𝗜 inicial 🆚 @FCBarcelona_es!#AVitoriaéNosa#AgoraCeltaAgora https://t.co/GZbypAslEN pic.twitter.com/cjYlUC8vYn— RC Celta (@RCCelta) June 4, 2023
One of these Espn commentators is an idiot. I don’t think Celta Vigo players take much comfort from “controlling their own destiny.” Who is thinking “All we have to do is beat Barcelona and we are safe”??
I can see them getting a draw here with a Barcelona basically done for the season. So it depends on the Valladolid game, and Valladolid scoring depends on Larin & Plata.
Barcelona is also starting players worth hundreds of millions of dollars. So even if they are checked out, they have a huge talent advantage.
The Spanish narrators explained it: in case of tied (40 points): Almeria > Celta Celta > Valladolid Almeria > Valladolid Triple tie in 40: Almeria > Valladolid > Celta
And that's it. Celta stop their season-ending freefall in style, by beating Barca on the last day of the season. Excellent game from Luca. Whew!