Real Madrid’s season took another dramatic twist as they fell to a 2–0 defeat against Celta Vigo in La Liga, finishing the match with nine men and piling further pressure on manager Xabi Alonso.
The turning point came seven minutes after the break when substitute Williot Swedberg flicked a clever finish into the bottom corner for his first league goal of the season, handing Celta an unlikely lead.
Things unraveled quickly for Madrid: in the 64th minute, Fran García was dismissed after picking up two yellow cards in the space of a minute.
Then, deep into stoppage time, Álvaro Carreras followed him off the pitch after receiving two quick-fire yellows, one for dissent and another for foul and abusive language.
Swedberg struck again moments later to seal Celta’s first victory over Real in La Liga since May 2014, ending a run of 22 winless encounters.
Madrid had their chances, with Arda Güler firing narrowly wide and Kylian Mbappé chipping just over the bar, but wastefulness in front of goal compounded their misery.
The defeat leaves Real second in the table, four points behind leaders Barcelona, while Celta climb to 10th.
To make matters worse, Madrid’s defensive crisis deepened: Trent Alexander-Arnold has been ruled out for two months with a thigh injury in his disrupted debut season, and Éder Militão limped off after just 23 minutes with a hamstring problem.
Attention now shifts to Wednesday’s Champions League clash against Manchester City at the Bernabéu, a fixture that could define Alonso’s tenure as pressure mounts on the young manager.
