Player Ratings: Real Madrid 5-2 Celta Vigo – 2021/22

A Karim Benzema hat-trick and goals from Vinicius and Eduardo Camavinga see Real Madrid earn three points on their return to the Santiago Bernabéu.

Celta Vigo opened the scoring after just four minutes, with Santi Mina finding the back of the net after a string of errors from Miguel Gutiérrez, Nacho and Casemiro in the Real Madrid defence. Karim Benzema then equalised for Real Madrid after a cross from Fede Valverde. Los Blancos’ lead didn’t last long and it was Cervi who gave his team the advantage after another mistake from Nacho.

With Celta ahead at the break, Real Madrid had it all to do in the second-half and they wasted no time in doing that. It took Madrid just 40 seconds of the second half to find an equaliser. Miguel Gutiérrez crossed from the right and found Benzema who headed brilliantly past Dituro.

Ten minutes later, Real Madrid took the lead. Karim Benzema slid in a wonderful through ball to Vinicius who finished with ease. The Whites were hungry for more goals and it wasn’t long before they scored a fourth. Luka Modric made a brilliant run into Celta’s box before seeing his effort saved by Dituro but Camavinga was on hand to finish.

With minutes to go, Vinicus was brought down inside the penalty area and it was Benzema’s chance to score a hat-trick. The Frenchman stepped up and made no mistake from the spot, completing what was a brilliant second-half performance. The win sees Real Madrid move to the top of the LaLiga table and continue their unbeaten start in the league. Our player ratings:

Starting XI:

Thibaut Courtois: 7/10

A relatively quite night for the Belgian despite conceding two goals. There wasn’t much he could do to prevent either goal having been let down by his defenders.

Dani Carvajal: 7/10

Eder Militao: 7/10

The best of Real Madrid’s defenders in what was a rather poor defensive performance.

Nacho: 6/10

An unusually poor performance from the Spaniard. Nacho made mistakes that led to both goals for Celta and didn’t look his usual self. A night to forget.

Miguel Gutiérrez: 7/10

Fede Valverde: 8/10

Casemiro: 8/10

Shaky at times, especially for Celta’s first goal. The Brazilian grew into the game and looked a lot more like his usual self in the second-half.

Luka Modric: 8.5/10

A brilliant performance in the middle of the park. The Croatian looked fatigued in the first-half but his class was on show in the second. Luka came close to scoring what would have been a sensational goal but was denied by Celta’s keeper before Camavinga converted the rebound. Got a standing ovation upon being replaced by Asensio.

Eden Hazard: 7/10

Karim Benzema: 10/10

Vinicius Jr: 9/10

Substitutions:

Eduardo Camavinga: 7.5/10 – A dream debut. The Frenchman found the back of the net just six minutes after coming on and looked comfortable on and off the ball during his time on the pitch.

Marco Asensio: 6/10 – Replaced Luka Modric with less than ten minutes to go.

Marcelo: N/A – Replaced Miguel Gutiérrez late on.

Rodrygo: N/A – Replaced Vinicius late on.