The 33-time La Liga champions Real Madrid will fight it out against Celta Vigo in their first fixture of this year's edition of the tournament at the Balaidos stadium on August 17. The Los Blancos will be looking forward to a good start to the tournament after a miserable last season in both La Liga and Champions League whereas Celta Viga also will look forward to getting a good start to their season.
Preview, Prediction and Schedule
Real Madrid after having a horrifying season last year have made many changes in their whole set-up. They have brought in star players like Eden Hazard, Luka Jovic, Eder Militao, Ferland Mendy and Rodrygo Goes to give a major boost to their squad. The Los Blancos had a very poor pre-season campaign and had troubles with their defence. Last season they were placed third in the league table at the end of the season having a 19 points difference with champions Barcelona.
After the Catalan club's loss at the hands of Athletic Bilbao, the Los Blancos will hope to win their first fixture and go ahead of their rival club. The match will be a closely contested fixture and Real Madrid who are in dire need for a convincing win will bank a lot on Gareth Bale and Marco Toni Kroos as Eden Hazard was ruled out of the match due to a hamstring injury. But Madrid really need to mend their defence if they have to win the league.
On the other hand, Celta Vigo also had a very poor pre-season campaign. They were placed 17th in the league table last season which is the lowest considering the last four years. The Celticos lost 19 matches in the La Liga last time around and will be hoping to be back in the top-10 this season. With Denis Suarez, Joseph Aidoo, Santa Mina joining the squad they look like a team to watch out for. But their most important player is Iago Aspas who scored 20 goals last season. They would love to win the first match of the season at their own backyard.
The Los Blancos are the favourite to win the match and are expected to win by a margin of two goals. But Celta Vigo who defeated Barcelona last season will make it difficult for the Madrid-based team to win at the Celticos home ground.
The Real Madrid-Celta Vigo match will start at 5 PM local time and 8.30 PM on August 17 at 11:00 pm SGT.
