Celta Vigo 1 Real Madrid 2: Mbappe scores again, Ancelotti's admission and Modric makes history

Real Madrid secured a hard-fought win over Celta Vigo, with Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Junior scoring and the all-time Luka Modric becoming the club's oldest player to ever appear in a competitive match.

Saturday's triumph meant Real Madrid moved level on points with Barcelona, ​​who play Sevilla at home on Sunday (9pm local time, 8pm UK time and 3pm ET), and Hansi Flick's side a week before the Clasico next Bernabeu put pressure on Sunday.

This also means that Carlo Ancelotti has recorded 200 La Liga games (143 wins, 33 draws and 24 losses) as Madrid manager and that his team has now played 42 consecutive games without defeat in the competition, the record of all Times of Barcelona dates back to 43.

That's the good news.

However, it wasn't all plain sailing behind these good numbers, with Ancelotti admitting that his revamped formation didn't quite work as he had planned.

“Yes, we have a lot of problems, but the positive is that we are one point less in the league than (at this point) last season and we are winning while trying to find the right path,” said one association player . Space source, speaking anonymously to protect relationships, tells The athlete.

Mario Cortegana breaks down Vigo's top talking points.

Mbappe stands out amidst the controversy

On Tuesday, Kylian Mbappe's lawyer made a statement on French television channel TF1. She said the Real Madrid striker believed there was “nothing to blame” him after reports linked him to an alleged rape in Sweden.

The claims first emerged after Swedish media reported that Stockholm police were investigating an alleged rape in the city and that officers as part of the case had visited the hotel where Mbappe and some of his friends were staying during the international break.

“I am not here to comment on speculation. “I don’t see him being affected at all,” Ancelotti said of Mbappe on Friday. “He used the break to significantly improve his condition and recover from his injury. I see him physically and mentally at almost 100 percent.”

Anyone who watched the Frenchman warm up at Balaidos will not be surprised by his golazo. Mbappe has already scored some great goals, similar to the one in the 20th minute when he fired the ball from the edge of the box into the top corner.

He has scored eight goals and provided one assist in 12 games for Real Madrid. Mbappe celebrated his latest appearance by running, hugging his teammates and then heading to the sideline to drink water and receive instructions from Ancelotti.

Kylian Mbappe celebrates Real Madrid's opening goal (Florencia Tan Jun/Getty Images)

But the striker didn't feel completely comfortable and returned to the pitch at the start of the second half in the same way he left it at half-time: with accusations at the referee.

He then continued playing on the left wing, with Vinicius Jr., with whom he was chatting in the tunnel, playing in the middle. They then swapped positions and when Mbappe was in the penalty area trying to grab a pass from Jude Bellingham, his requests for a penalty were rejected after he clashed with former Newcastle defender Javier Manquillo.

Mbappe was substituted for Dani Ceballos in the 82nd minute and his gestures from the bench summed up Real Madrid's tense end to the game: the attacker was caught asking Thibaut Courtois not to play the ball to save time waste.

Still, he won another MVP trophy.

Ancelotti's formation problem

This was Real Madrid's first game without Dani Carvajal, who will miss the rest of the season with a serious knee injury.

Of course, there was a moment of remembrance for the team's second captain in the form of a message on the jerseys in which his teammates took the field. “A lot of strength, Dani!” it read.

The right-back's absence was noticeable right from the start of the game. There was a big surprise when Ancelotti deployed a hybrid formation – in some phases with a back four and in others with Eder Militao, Aurelien Tchouameni and Antonio Rüdiger as three central defenders – and two full-backs, Lucas Vazquez and Fran Garcia. who replaced Ferland Mendy.

“Bellingham’s position has changed,” Ancelotti said. “The idea was to get more into the game with him from the second row on the right wing, as Celta had suffered from balls at the far post in previous games. We tried Bellingham there, I really liked it.

“When the team had possession, Tchouameni played between the two central defenders and we had a balance problem in the first half because he had to move forward without the ball. I have made a mistake. I didn’t explain it well enough.”

The athlete asked the Italian coach when he decided on this system and whether he was hesitant to try it out at Valdebebas during the international window due to the absence of many players. “It's not like you have to work on it a lot,” Ancelotti replied.

Carlo Ancelotti optimized Real Madrid's system at Balaidos (Florencia Tan Jun/Getty Images)

The maneuver was also strange because, since no one is counting on Jesus Vallejo, Ancelotti only has three central defenders: Militao, Rüdiger and Tchouameni, and the latter is a midfielder.

In any case, the experiment didn't work well. Vazquez and Fran Garcia made no difference in attack. In addition, Tchouameni was lost, which led to further discussions between the Frenchman, Militao and Rüdiger.

Celta shot more (13-10) and created more chances (10-5) than Real Madrid, and Courtois made more saves (four) than Vicente Guaita (one).

Modric deserves a piece of Real Madrid history

Luka Modric made history for Real Madrid in Galicia by becoming the oldest player (39 years and 40 days) to play an official game for the club. The record has been held since 1966 by Ferenc Puskas (39 years and 36 days).

“I am very proud to achieve this record and to continue at this age with the best club in the world,” he later said.

The Croatian, who is also the player with the most titles (27) in the club's history, celebrated the milestone in style. Although he came off the bench, he left his mark, probably influenced by the fact that he played 180 minutes for his national team last week.

When Celta made it 1-1, he started to warm up and came on as a substitute for Fede Valverde in the 64th minute. He was immediately presented with the captain's armband by Vazquez, as if he wanted to contribute his part to the historical images to come.

Two minutes later, Modric perfectly recognized Vinicius Jr.'s great play and slid a pass into the path of the striker, who pushed the ball past Guaita to make it 2-1. If you include penalties won, the Brazilian has been involved in 12 goals in 12 games this season.

Luka Modric congratulates Vinicius Jr. after his winning game (Florencia Tan Jun/Getty Images)

“I always tell Vini: If you run, the balls will come to you,” explained Modric.

The Real Madrid number 10 did his best, appearing everywhere on the pitch and even blocking a very dangerous shot from Alfon to prevent the home side from making it 2-2.

Perhaps unintentionally, Ancelotti was the voice of all Madridism when he said: “It is and was fortunate for Real Madrid to have this player.”

Go deeper

Modric is Real Madrid's oldest player: Best moments and ranking in the club's history

(Top photo: Miguel Riopa/AFP via Getty Images)