Celta Vigo boss questions legality of Real Madrid match-winning goal – ‘I protested the foul…’ | OneFootball

Real Madrid prevailed 2-1 against Celta Vigo at Balaidos on Friday night, thanks to a 94th minute winner from captain Federico Valverde.

Aurelien Tchouameni’s early goal was cancelled out by Borja Iglesias, and the game seemed to be headed for a draw, until Valverde came up with the match-winning momentum in stoppage time.

Claudio Giraldez questions winning goal

However, Celta Vigo manager Claudio Giraldez was not convinced that the goal should have stood due to a potential foul in the build-up.

The Galician outfit’s head coach claimed that the referee should have called for a foul on Fer Lopez by Real Madrid starlet Manuel Angel.

“I protested the foul on Fer, he goes in with both legs, he brings him down, it’s very similar to the one on Asencio where he was booked a little earlier,” said Giraldez, as quoted by Mundo Deportivo.

Despite the defeat, Giraldez acknowledged that his team did not suffer excessively during the game, although they were unable to impose their usual style of play. He highlighted that the match could still serve as a valuable lesson for the squad, saying:

“This game shows us that we can also win these matches. We were close, especially with that shot from Iago Aspas that hit the post, even though we didn’t play our best football.”

Fede Valverde scorred the winner for Real Madrid. (Photo by Jose Manuel Alvarez Rey/Getty Images)

“The expectations that had been set for the match made it harder for us to maintain a low defensive line, to understand that we have to suffer because Real Madrid is a very good team,” he added.

“I think that not having the control we had at the beginning of the match, and which we had much more of at the Bernabéu, has worn us down psychologically.”

Giraldez noted that Madrid made a tactical adjustment that complicated Celta’s pressing structure, as he said:

“I leave with the feeling that we had a lot of doubts in the first half, especially because Real Madrid did something unusual.

“They usually have a lot of players on the left side, but today they did it with a lot of players on the right, with Vinicius practically playing centrally for much of the game. They disrupted our pressing.

“We worked better in the second half, but my game plan wasn’t right because we got worse after the substitutions; we lacked energy and we weren’t organized. This defeat stings for all of us.”