There was good news from Carlo Ancelotti's pre-match press conference on Saturday: Gareth Bale and Karim Benzema are on the road to recovery.
The Welshman is expected to be available for the league match against Sevilla next week and Real's first-choice striker should return to action in the first leg of the Champions League tie against Juventus in Turin on May 5.
The bad news is that alongside Luka Modric, neither will make the trip to Balaidos to play Celta on Sunday. The same situation was true on Wednesday night, when Real Madrid finally got the better of Atletico Madrid at the eighth time of asking of this season, but that was at home. With the semifinals of the Champions League safely reached, Ancelotti's focus will return to the league and the parallels between this year and last will provide the Real manager with a few headaches in Vigo on Sunday.
Late last season, Real travelled to Galicia still in the La Liga title reckoning, albeit only just. One point behind Barcelona and four adrift of Atletico, Real needed both challengers to slip up and both duly obliged: Barca being held at Camp Nou by the unlikely source of Getafe and Atletico showing a few nerves as Diego Simeone's side went down 2-0 at Levante. Unfortunately, a woeful defensive display, a lack of incisiveness in attack and an inspired Celta put paid to Real's hopes anyway; two goals from Charles handed the side -- then managed by Luis Enrique -- all three points.
It was hardly surprising, given the side that Ancelotti put out: Diego Lopez; Alvaro Arbeloa, Nacho, Sergio Ramos, Marcelo; Sami Khedira, Xabi Alonso, Casemiro; Modric, Alvaro Morata, Isco.
The Italian didn't have a lot of choice: Shorn of Cristiano Ronaldo, Benzema, Angel di Maria and Pepe, and with the Champions League final looming, there was a definite sense of inevitability to the match. Real needed their rivals to do them a favour, but played as if they never expected one from the first whistle.
With the La Liga title race even more finely balanced this time around, Ancelotti will need to ensure there is no repeat of that half-performance. Fortunately his injury list is nowhere near as severe this weekend as it was then -- among the substitutes were a convalescing Bale, Burgui, Raul de Tomas and Willian Jose. Unfortunately for Ancelotti, Celta are playing with as much verve and attacking flair this season as they were last year, and have a taste for the big occasion. So far in 2014-15, Eduardo Berizzo's side have taken three points off Barca -- a 1-0 victory in Camp Nou -- four from Atletico and one from Valencia of the current top four.
Under Berizzo, Celta have built on Lui Enrique's tenure and are playing some glorious attacking football. The summer losses of Rafinha, Jon Aurtenetxe and Inigo Lopez have been mitigated with the signings of Pablo Hernandez, Carles Planes and the continued excellence of Nolito, who this season has been rewarded with a call-up to the full Spain squad and tops the Celta assist charts with 12, also chipping in with nine goals.
Charles, who was hardly prolific last season after winning the Segunda Division Pichichi trophy the year before at Almeria, has gone further off the boil, hitting just three so far. But an unlikely goalscoring saviour has emerged in the form of Joaquin Larrivey, a player for who the term "journeyman" was created. Signed from Rayo on a free at the end of last season, the 30-year-old Argentinean is worth a goal every 177 minutes in the league and offers a physical presence that few defenders enjoy going up against.
Built on a solid midfield, Celta are well-worth their current top-10 status, but the loss of influential defensive midfielder Nemanja Radoja will be keenly felt in Balaidos. However, Berizzo has promised a sellout home crowd that there will be no change of style, despite the potency of the visiting side. "The key to the game is going to be the way we're able to get the ball off them and in which area of the pitch we do that because against this type of team, defending in front of goal for most of the game isn't a good idea. Celta always play at pace and we feel comfortable moving the ball around quickly. We are direct, powerful on the wings and throughout this league campaign we've felt comfortable playing that way," said Berizzo.
Berizzo will be aware that playing that way in the Bernabeu invited a 3-0 defeat, with Ronaldo bagging a hat trick. The Portuguese will be the focal point of Real's attacking play on Sunday, with Chicharito Hernandez likely to start in the middle after an encouraging display against Atletico in midweek. Whether Isco will be shunted out to the left again to accommodate James Rodriguez remains to be seen, but the midfielder has not looked comfortable there in recent matches.
Whatever formation Ancelotti decides to field in Balaidos, the Italian will do well to remind them what happened last year when the title was still mathematically possible: Barcelona's 2-0 win in their city derby on Saturday has opened the gap to five points again and only Atletico present a reasonable chance of Luis Enrique's side being denied three points over the remaining five fixtures.
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