Real Madrid will be in the hat for the Copa del Rey quarter-final draw, although their progression was far from straightforward. They defeated Celta Vigo 5-2 in their last 16 tie at the Santiago Bernabeu, which needed extra time.
Carlo Ancelotti’s side dominated the opening stages, but it took until the 37th minute for the deadlock to be broken – which it was in controversial circumstances. Moments after Celta claimed a penalty after Williot Swedberg went down under the challenge of Andriy Lunin, Kylian Mbappe scored a fine solo goal.
Three minutes into the second half, Real Madrid doubled their lead. Mbappe was at the heart of things again as he played Brahim Diaz in behind, and the Moroccan slipped in Vinicius Junior to score his first goal of 2025.
In the final minutes of normal time, chaos ensued. Arda Guler had a late strike ruled out by VAR, while Jonathan Bamba struck a goal back for Celta soon after. The visitors were then awarded a penalty in the 90th minute, which was converted by Marcos Alonso.
As a result, extra time was needed, although it was Real Madrid that emerged as victorious as substitute Endrick Felipe scored the winning goal in 108th minute. Federico Valverde would put the icing on the cake soon after as he added the fourth with a thunderous strike, and it got even better as Endrick added his second and Los Blancos’ fifth.
In the end, Real Madrid held on for victory. They will be eyeing up success in this season’s Copa del Rey, and it will be interesting to see who they are drawn against in the quarter-finals.
