There didn’t appear to be a hangover from their exit in the UEFA Champions League semi-final for Atlético Madrid, as they attacked Celta at every opportunity in the early stages.
So much so that the Galicians were forced into an ultra-defensive 4-5-1 formation. Ademola Lookman was particularly tricky in possession and industrious in his work, though it was Álex Baena who came closest to opening the scoring when he hit the woodwork in the 12th minute.
Ex-Barça stars Ilaix Moriba and Óscar Mingueza helped Celta enjoy brief periods of possession; however, as soon as the ball was played up to Borja Iglesias, it came straight back again.
At the opposite end, it wasn’t until near the half-hour mark before Antoine Griezmann had Atléti’s first shot on target. Despite the best efforts of both sides, by half time, there was a real ‘end of season’ feel to proceedings, and little for supporters of both sides to get excited about.
A similar pattern to the start of the first half saw Los Rojiblancos on the front foot, with Alexander Sørloth seeing an effort on target shortly after the break. Lookman then skied a decent effort from just a few yards out.
Completely out of the blue, Borja executed a stunning lob over a stranded Jan Oblak to give Celta the lead with their first shot on target, after a simple ball into him from Williot Swedberg completely took five Atléti players out of the game.
A late flourish from Atléti allowed Celta to get higher up the pitch than they had before the opening goal, and in turn, it made for a much more watchable encounter.
A stunning full-length save from Ionuț Radu kept out Cubo’s towering header late on, and the result means that Atléti lost just their third league home game of the season after winning 14 of the previous 17, drawing the other.
The three points give Celta faint hopes of catching Real Betis in the final Champions League qualification place, with what was just their second win this season over a team that started the game in a higher position (D4, L4).
Flashscore Man of the Match: Ionuț Radu (Celta Vigo)