Celta Vigo took a major step towards European football next season with a win at the Metropolitano against Atletico Madrid. Los Colchoneros were handed just their third home defeat in La Liga this season, one that threatens to take third place beyond their reach.
There was little sign of Atletico's disappointment from Tuesday's Champions League exit early on, coming on strong with runs down the right from Marcos Llorente . One of those resulted in the ball ricocheting off a Celta defender and then off Antoine Griezmann , before bouncing painfully wide. A cute Alex Baena ball then found Ademola Lookman on the left side of the box, who rocketed his shot off the corner of the goal-frame, all within the opening 11 minutes.
Amid a steady flow of Atletico half-chances, Celta were failing to put any meaningful moves together at all until the half-hour mark. Fer Lopez shot long with his pass into Pablo Duran, who had a clear route to goal, before Borja Iglesias ballooned his effort high of the top right corner, after working a yard of space on the left side of the box. Marcos Llorente responded in kind with a shot narrowly far of the right post, but the sense that Atletico were imposing their will on Celta had receded.
Celta's best move of the match came five minutes into the second half. After a neat ball into Borja Iglesias, Oscar Mingueza found Fer Lopez with the return, and it all led up to a perfect lay-off in the D for Ilaix Moriba , but a less than fitting finish over the bar. Atletico did the same less than two minutes later. A swooping ball to the back post found Baena, and Alexander Sorloth's backheel effort required the first good save of the match, Andrei Radu flying to his right to push it wide.
For the first time since the opening period, it seemed as if Atletico were starting to arm wrestle Celta back towards their own box. Hence Claudio Giraldez and the Celta faithful, noisy in the corner, raised the volumes when they saw Borja Iglesias' deft lob float on down from the divine and drop into the net. The ball had been squeezed out to Iglesias on the left side of the box by Williot Swedberg , and with Jan Oblak and Robin Le Normand closing the door on any angle he might have, Iglesias simply went over them.
Following the goal, play resumed its prior territory of the Celta half, but little actual football was being played. Without coming across as intentional, Celta continued to break the game up into 30-second chunks. Whenever Atletico could string passes together, they looked dangerous, Thiago Almada blazing a good opening over from a Nahuel Molina cross. Youngster Miguel Llorente had been sent on by Diego Simeone to inject some vibrancy into Atletico's play, and moments later he fired narrowly wide of the far post from the left side.
Atletico Madrid had little on the line though, beyond who will finish in third place between themselves and Villarreal . While Simeone declared that it was 'an enormous motivation', an irked crowd and their somewhat lukewarm tempo, made it feel an enormous task just to push onwards in pursuit of the equaliser. Without Baena on the pitch for the last 20 minutes, much of Atletico's attacking threat came down to crosses, and Miguel Llorente's header with two minutes to go was the second time Radu had been forced into an excellent save. Celta attacked with one eye on their own goal, feeling that breaking down eight players was a task too big for the Atletico attack.
When the final whistle sounded, the Celta fans managed to make themselves heard above the Atletico anthem that blasted out. Simeone can justly point to the statistics, which denote just two Celta shots and the 17 for Atletico, drawing on the 'famous effectiveness' in the boxes. Yet his side looked laborious in their task. No such thing could be said for Celta, who seemed to get quicker and more committed the closer the final whistle came. It was a long way from Celta's best in terms of football, but Giraldez will no doubt praise the attitude shown by his players.
Iglesias' deft brilliance was the exact composure Atletico had lacked in front of goal, and it draws Celta within touching distance of European football. They stay 6th, within just three of Real Betis before they play, and look forward to hosting Levante on Tuesday. Los Colchoneros have a trip to Osasuna , which may feel even more onerous. They lie five behind Villarreal before the Yellow Submarine feature.
