There was the Giraldez effect. Definitely. Not only because the debut of the young coach, 36 years old, ended with a vital victory for Celta against Sevilla. There were more. A good game from Giráldez’s team that surprised the Sánchez Pizjuán with its ease, calmness and, finally, efficiency. Celta behaved with great ease in Nervión, as if they were not two points away from relegation, with calmness to overcome En-Nesyri’s goal in the first half without breaking down, with patience. The result of his great triumph is evident. Achieve a distance of five points with the relegation zone. Sevilla, for its part, was a calamity. He played without intensity or spark, without midfield and without intelligence. He also did not take advantage of his moments in the game to make it 2-0 and in the end what everyone saw became a fact. That Celta, much better, was going to come back. Sevilla, six points from relegation, is not saved. Not at all. And the worst is inside the locker room, as demonstrated by that dispute between Quique Sánchez Flores, his coach, and En-Nesyri when the forward was substituted.
1
Ørjan Haskjold Nyland, Marcos Acuña (Lamela, min. 89), Jesús Navas, Sergio Ramos, Gudelj (Adrià Pedrosa, min. 74), Kike Salas, Óliver Torres (Joan Jordán, min. 75), Lucas Ocampos (Suso, min. . 60), Boubakary Soumare, Isaac Romero and En-Nesyri (Lukebakio, min. 60)
2
Guaita, Carlos Domínguez (Jailson, min. 67), Unai Núñez (Franco Cervi, min. 75), Óscar Mingueza, Fran Beltrán, Hugo Sotelo (Carl Starfelt, min. 67), Manquillo (Carles Perez, min. 28), Hugo Álvarez, Jorgen Strand Larsen, Aspas and Jonathan Bamba
Goals 1-0 min. 18: En-Nesyri. 1-1 min. 71: Carles Perez. 1-2 min. 78: Jorgen Strand Larsen.
Referee Francisco José Hernández Maeso
Yellow cards Marcos Acuña (min. 29), Jesús Navas (min. 55) and Boubakary Soumare (min. 92)
The sun looked imposing at midday in Seville. 28 degrees of justice that did not seem to alter the spirit of a handsome Celta, who played football as if Claudio Giráldez had been coaching the Galician team all his life. And it turns out that he was making his debut on the bench for a Celta team that played the ball admirably and was tremendously brave. Sevilla’s game plan did not contemplate such a scenario, with Aspas and the young Hugo Álvarez wreaking havoc in the center of the field. Aspas himself, after three minutes, had a clear chance to score. The veteran striker knocked out a good ball in the area. And therein lay Celta’s fundamental problem. Giráldez’s team played wonderfully, but they were soft up front and, above all, in defense.
The Galicians’ impressive risk in getting the ball out led to a couple of approaches from Sevilla, which has two very good forwards and few midfielders. At 18 minutes, En-Nesyri stole the ball from an unfortunate Núñez and scored 1-0 with the first shot between the three sticks of the Andalusian team. A blow, which, however, did not collapse Celta. The team continued doing its thing, playing and playing, approaching the area of a Sevilla team that had no qualms about getting into their field. Celta’s monologue with the ball resulted in two good chances for Larsen. Giráldez’s group did almost everything well. Except the most important thing, score.
Sevilla continued to play with fire in the second half. Celta, although they accumulated chances, such as two from Aspas and Larsen, suffered from the effort. The Andalusian team was finally able to counterattack and had up to three clear opportunities to make it 2-0. It was Guaita, Celta’s goalkeeper, who supported his team with two great saves against Isaac Romero, who was ungenerous with En-Nesyri at his side, and then Lukebakio. Almost condemned, this good Celta reacted. A great goal from Carles Pérez and another good shot from Larsen turned the score around to the anger of a Sevilla fan who was quite tired of their team’s disappointing season. Sevilla, with more than twenty minutes left, could not react. Only in the 82nd minute did Celta suffer. The referee Hernández Maeso awarded a penalty for a challenge on Lukebakio. Del Cerro Grande, in the VAR, notified the referee. There was no contact. Thus ended a horrible noon for Sevilla and a day of resurrection for a Celta that gave the Andalusians a real refresher.
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