Player Ratings: Celta Vigo 0 - 1 Real Madrid; 2023 La Liga

Real Madrid travelled north to Vigo with a clash against Celta, who are now managed by former Real Madrid player and manager, Rafa Benitez. A rare Friday night fixure, Carlo Ancelotti’s men were looking to make it three victories in three matches. A Vinicius injury and a missed penalty were not enough to stop this Real Madrid team as Jude Bellingham rose to the occasion again to score a late-game winner.

Full match player ratings below:

Kepa—6: Debut and clean sheet, but left fans with mixed feelings. Lacked physicality and was inconsistent with his long ball distribution.

Dani Carvajal—8: The Spanish fullback keeps trucking along with another strong performance. Played high up the pitch and counter-pressed well, completing 4 tackles.

Toni Rudiger—7: Another day in the office for Toni Rudiger who was solid throughout and gave Celta barely a sniff at goal.

David Alaba—7: Forming a strong partnership with Rudiger and made a couple of impactful forays into the offensive third. On-ball distribution was precise, as is so often the case.

Fran Garcia—6.5: Played more as a left winger rather than a left back, keeping the Celta backline honest given his lethal pace.

Tchouameni—7: Becoming the focal point in build-up out of the back and completed 63/64 passes. Dazzled with a rabona cross after bursting past two Celta defenders.

Fede Valverde—8: Excellent performance from the Uruguayan. He was everywhere — a right interior, left interior, a winger, and a defensive midfielder. Had 3 interceptions, 2 completed tackles, won all his ground duels (2), 2 key passes including outside of the boot through ball, and nearly scored with an unorthodox opportunity from Jude Bellingham.

Eduardo Camavinga—7: Defensively is covering the right areas for Fran Garcia and Tchouameni. Both Camavinga and Tchouameni were effective in suffocating Celta keeping them locked in their own half.

Jude Bellingham—8: The man of the moment comes up big yet again with another important game-winning goal. Had to be patient and disciplined in the #10 role with few touches in the opening 30 minutes. The play he was involved with was impactful: the pass to Rodrygo for the penalty, the touch to Valverde for the team’s highest xG opportunity, numerous off-ball runs to move defenders, and of course the pivotal headed goal.

Vinicius Junior—N/A: Injured after 17 minutes of gameplay.

Rodrygo—8: Feel for Rodrygo after the missed penalty, it was his sole bad mark from this game. He drew the penalty which was a nailed-on goal as the Brazilian was past the defense and past the goalkeeper. Completed a game-high of 8 dribbles — constantly producing silky yet mazy individual runs with the ball.

Substitutions:

Toni Kroos—7: Brought control and increased the positive momentum that Madrid had built in the second half.

Luka Modric—7: Like Kroos, helped to control the game and knock the wind out of Celta’s sails. Team earned the penalty and scored the goal when Kroos and Modric were on the pitch.

Joselu—6: Got the assist on the game-winning goal after connecting with Kroos’ corner kick and nodding the ball towards the back post.

Nacho—N/A: A great recovery run after a failed trap on a Toni Kroos free-kick late in the game.