Real Madrid will be in Monday’s Copa del Rey quarter-final draw despite making hard work of their Round of 16 clash against Celta on Thursday. ‘Los Blancos’ were winning 2-0 with the clock ticking down and the Bernabeu crowd were suddenly silenced as Celta found two late strikes to take the tie to extra-time. Eventually, the home side found the goals that offered a path to the next stage of the competition but the overall performance was underwhelming and leaves plenty of unanswered questions.

The Madrid side were initially greeted by a series of boos from a demanding Bernabeu faithful following the sub-standard Spanish Super Cup final in Jeddah against Barcelona, a situation that Ancelotti himself described as normal, given the circumstances: “It is a wake-up call from the fans, it is acceptable given what happened against Barcelona.” Madrid advance and thoughts now turn to the LaLiga game against Las Palmas and return of the Champions League next week.

Vinicius, out of touch

The Brazilian failed to find the target in the past month; his last goal coming on December 10, 2024 and redeemed that statistic against Celta finding the net in the 48th minute, but the striker is still far from his best: he shot four times, three on target, dribbled successfully only twice, created two chances... At present, the former Flamengo man has lost the spark he used to have, with Mbappé stealing the headlines in the striking department.

Following his sending off at Mestalla, the Brazilian will now serve a two match ban and miss the league games against Las Palmas against Valladolid.

Ceballos failing to gel

Given the demanding fixture list, Ancelotti has been forced to rotate his side and the man from Seville has been played along with Modric and Tchouameni in midfield.

As things stand, Ceballos is failing to generate the reliability needed in such a key position on the pitch. He made 68 passes in 72 minutes and failed to compliment the strikers and at present lacks the presence that a central player should offer.

Negligent Camavinga

Few players were as highly regarded by Real Madrid fans as Camavinga but recent games have been blighted by a series of errors.

In Jeddah, with the score at 1-1, he gave away an inexplicable penalty fouling Gavi that ended with Lewandowski making it 2-1. The goal was Madrid’s undoing with Barça going on to win comfortably. Against Celta, the French international made an even more serious blunder, giving a ball on the edge of the box that ended with Bamba making it 2-1.

More defensive mismatches

Raul Asencio was drafted back into the rearguard for the Celta clash as the team tried to press higher. During the Copa game, Celta managed a total of 12 shots, five of them on target. The team, one sensed, were still mulling over the heavy defeat in Jeddah and continued to lack concentration defensively at key moments of the game with Camavinga’s error compounded by a mistake made by Asencio as he game away the spot kick that made the game 2-2.

Madrid have improved their attack and have scored 27 goals in their last eight games, with an average of over three goals per game. But it is also true that they are not closing up shop and in those same games they have conceded 15, almost two per game on average.

Creative crisis

Despite a boost in ‘Los Blancos’ striking tally, the bulk of their strikers have come via counter-attack or from long distance strikes.

Toni Kroos’ absence continues to weigh heavy and midfield maestro Modric now struggles to complete 90 minutes.

There is a growing feeling that Madrid are struggling to create continuous and sustained build-up play but are now taking their chances due to the quality of their attackers.