Celta Vigo 2-4 Real Madrid: 5 Talking Points, LaLiga 2018/19

It was a hotly contested tie in the Estadio Municipal de Balaídos which threatened to boil over, as Real Madrid came out on top against the Galician outfit. The victory, Madrid's fourth in four since firing Julen Lopetegui, means they now sit 6th in the table with 20 points, only 4 points behind league leaders, Catalan giants FC Barcelona, who slipped at home against Real Betis in a 3-4 loss.Real Madrid started the game brightly, having control over proceedings for the first 15 minutes of the game. Celta tried to press and counter their makeshift backline but were met with resistance in the form of Sergio Ramos and Casemiro, who instantly launched the ball forward in the search for a goal.Casemiro was cynically fouled by Maxi Gomez in the 8th minute and was taken off after much drama for Dani Ceballos in the 19th minute. Celta came really close to scoring the equalizer from the set-piece following the substitution through an Okay Yukuslu effort that came off the woodwork and was cleared by Sergio Ramos.It was Karim Benzema who opened the scoring on the night with a sublime control and finish off of an equally exquisite Luka Modric pass in the 23rd minute. Celta were put under a lot of pressure by the fullbacks and midfielders making runs that were hard to track for the men at home. They had to resort to fouling the Madrid players for almost the entirety of the game, which lead to quite a few injuries, as Nacho, Casemiro and Sergio Regullion were all taken off with a knock in the match.The home side went into the break a goal down, and started the second half with a lot more control on the game, and came very close to scoring with Aspas, who put his effort wide of Courtois' post. Karim Benzema struck the bar at the 50th minute through some very nimble play in the box, but the ball was recovered by the Celta players.However, Benzema was a man on a mission tonight, as he got the better of Roncaglia in the box, snatching a poor pass from him, turning his man and shooting at goal. The ball struck the post and hit the onrushing Gustavo Cabral to go back into the net for Madrid's second goal of the night.The home side replied by taking the game by the scruff of the neck and going full tilt and were rewarded in the form of a goal by club captain Hugo Mallo, who scored a brilliant volley past the onrushing Thibaut Courtois. Junca fouled Odriozola in the box in the 81st minute, and the subsequent penalty was knocked home by Sergio Ramos in almost trademark Panenka fashion.Cabral's and Celta's evening went from bad to worse, as he was booked for the second time on the night at the 87th minute, leaving Celta with 10 men for the final moments of the game. Madrid made the most of this advantage, as first-half sub Dani Ceballos scored a screamer from outside the box following an awesome Sergio Ramos pass.Celta pulled the last goal back at the 94th minute through their best player on the night, Braiz Mendez, who scored through Iago Aspas' clever cut-back, albeit with the help of a hearty deflection. Here are the talking points from this fixture.#1 Real look potent in attack againBenzema has looked much better under Solari's charge, scoring 4 goals in 4 games since he took over.Real Madrid have had major scoring struggles since the departure of Cristiano Ronaldo in the summer, and needed players to step up to replace his output, as the club purchased no direct replacement for him, instead relying on patchy players such as Karim Benzema, Gareth Bale, Marco Asensio etc.Julen Lopetegui gave it his best shot, but the Madrid attack looked toothless at times in his reign, and the club faced the worst scoring drought in their 116-year history, going for more than 8 hours without scoring a goal.Those problems felt like a lifetime ago tonight, as Karim Benzema and Co. ran riot at the Balaidos, finding spaces to run into the shambolic Celta defence, and made the most of their chances on the night, coming away with 4 goals and a massive 3 points in the hotly contested title race.

Celta Vigo 2-4 Real Madrid: 5 Talking Points, LaLiga 2018/19

#2 Celta needs a balance between attack and defence