Celta coach Giráldez left furious after Real Madrid’s late goal: “I don’t know how to say it without swearing”

Frustration dominated the mood on the Celta bench after a dramatic finish against Real Madrid. The coach, Claudio Giráldez, pointed to a controversial play before the decisive goal and admitted his own tactical decisions also played a role in the outcome.

Did facing a wounded Real Madrid change how you approached the final minutes?

It was very difficult for us to adjust to the high press we wanted to apply. They were patient and pinned us back for long stretches, and it’s a shame the game ended up being decided by that play where so many things happened.

They complain about a foul on Fer López before the goal.

There was a very similar action earlier that resulted in a yellow card for Asencio, but in that moment neither the referee nor VAR saw it that way. The foul is clear. Then they get a lucky rebound and we leave frustrated. We had Iago’s chance to win it, but it was a game where we never felt comfortable. That goal was a real blow.

Why did you replace all three forwards at once?

We usually make plans knowing the game is very long. We knew the three of them were tired. We wanted Jones to make Trent run and Hugo and Fer to attack Asencio more, but we didn’t execute the goal kick well, we struggled to keep the ball and the changes didn’t work out.

What did your team lack?

We lacked bite in the final third to change the tempo and threaten more. Even so, we had three or four clear chances.

How do you leave the game feeling?

We had many doubts in our pressing in the first half because they did something unusual. Madrid usually overloads the left side, but in this game they had many players on the right, with Vinícius drifting inside for long stretches, which disrupted our pressing a lot. They didn’t have a reference point up front either, which made it difficult for Starfelt and Marcos Alonso to adjust. In the second half we improved in that regard.

What frustrates me most is that when we recovered the ball we couldn’t connect the play to create a goal. And my plan wasn’t good enough in terms of the solutions we had on the bench for what was happening. We actually got worse with the substitutions – we lacked energy and we weren’t organized.

In Girona you conceded from a corner, and today Madrid scored from their first corner. What do you think about that?

Better not tell you. I don’t know how to say it without swearing.

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