a sad Celtic lost again tonight against the Real society (1-2) and was left out of the Copa del Rey semi-finals, victim of the conservatism of his coach Rafa Benítezagainst whom Imanol Alguacil once again won the tactical battle three days after his team’s performance in the league duel last Saturday.
The early goal of Mikel Oyarzabal, one minute into the game After an error by the Swede Carl Starfelt and a subsequent bad clearance by Carlos Domínguez, he ruined Benítez’s plan, who had given up playing with a creative midfielder to provide muscle to the midfield with the Brazilian Jailson and the Peruvian Renato Tapia .
His team barely bothered the Real society in the first half. The ball belonged to his rival, who played with judgment and speed, making the pressure of the local attackers useless. Quite the opposite of the Celticvery excited and flat in attack until it was 0-2 on the scoreboard.
Bladeless in the fieldAlthough this is far from its best level, the outlook is complicated for the Galician team because it lacks a destabilizing footballer in attack. Benítez initially opted for Miguel Rodríguez and Hugo Álvarez, two homegrown players who are not used to defending. Therefore, his prominence was testimonial.
It is true that Real Sociedad dominated, but also that they barely generated any scoring chances in the first half, except in set pieces. In one of them, on the edge of half-time and after another disastrous defensive balance from the sky blue defense, André Silva touched the second, but his shot, very forced, went high.
Benítez made a move at half-time. He introduced the American Luca de la Torre for Miguel Rodríguez, dwarfed by the conservative approach of his coach. But Celta’s problem was not in the pieces. By advancing their lines a little, the Vigo team already made Real Sociedad much more uncomfortable.
With half an hour left, and given the lack of push from his team, the Celta coach decided to bring in Iago Aspas and Óscar Mingueza. Two offensive changes that Real Sociedad neutralized a minute later with a lethal counterattack that Becker, Starting in his own field, he took the opportunity to seal the tie, despite the fact that Luca de la Torre in added time made Celticism dream with an epic comeback.
Data sheet:
1 – RC Celta: Iván Villar; Kevin Vázquez (Mingueza, min.64), Starfelt, Carlos Domínguez, Ristic; Miguel Rodríguez (Luca de la Torre, min.46), Tapia (Fran Beltrán, min.71), Jailson (Iago Aspas, min.64), Hugo Álvarez; Swedberg (Larsen, min.78) and Douvikas.
2 – Royal Society: Remiro; Aramburu, Zubeldia, Le Normand, Tierney (Aritz, min.38); Becker (Pacheco, min.78), Zubimendi, Merino, Brais Méndez (Sadiq, min.78); Oyarzabal (Magunazelaia, min.89) and André Silva (Zakaryan, min.46).
Goals: 0-1, m.1: Oyarzabal. 0-2, m.66: Becker. 1-2, m.91: Luca de la Torre.
Referee: Soto Grande (Castilla y León committee). He cautioned Douvikas (min.45), Larsen (min.91) and Ristic (min.93) for RC Celta, and Merino (min.64) and Magunazelaia (min.94) for Real Sociedad.
Incidents: Match corresponding to the Copa del Rey quarter-final tie played at the Abanca Balaídos stadium in front of 20,903 spectators.