Copa del Rey Odds: Real in must-win against Celta Vigo

Celta Vigo (+425) vs. Real Madrid (-150), Draw (+340)

Real Madrid will be fighting for survival when they take on Celta Vigo at the Balaídos for the second leg of the Copa del Rey quarterfinals on Wednesday, January 25th.

Real Madrid are down 2-1 after losing the first leg at the Bernabéu and will have to win by two goals or more in order to advance to the semifinals. Their defeat came fresh after their 40-match unbeaten streak was broken by a 2-1 loss to Sevilla.

Los Blancos are now just one point clear of second-place Sevilla in La Liga and only two points above Barcelona. The next few days includes two crucial games for them. They must beat Celta Vigo in order to remain in Copa del Rey and a loss to Real Sociedad on Saturday could see them drop to third in the league.

For now, their full attention has to be on their upcoming match against Célticos. Real outplayed and out-shot Celta Vigo in their first leg, and were the more forceful and threatening side throughout the game. Lucas Vázquez and Sergio Ramos had opportunities to score early and midfielders Toni Kroos and Casemiro had some close shots from range. But despite the onslaught from Real, Celta Vigo held on to close the first half with a clean sheet.

The second half found a similar rhythm, with Real dominating play. But a quick counter-attack saw Iago Aspas open the scoring for Celta Vigo in the 64th minute. Marcelo leveled the scoring shortly after in the 69th minute. But another Celta counter-attack put them back in the lead a minute later.

The win marked Celta Vigo’s sixth straight victory in all competitions and puts them in good standing to advance to the semifinals. They will adopt a similar strategy in the second leg, playing a defensive game while relying on the counter-attack.

Gareth Bale missed the first leg against Celta Vigo due to ankle problems but is expected to make be in the lineup Wednesday. But that will be offset by the absence of Marcelo and Luka Modric, who have both been ruled out due to injury. They join James Rodriguez, Pepe and Dani Carvajal on the bench of the injury-stricken Madrid side.

Real Madrid are no strangers to adversity, though, and have a stacked lineup despite all their injuries. They have won eight of their last ten away matches against Celta Vigo and stand as the clear favorites going into the second leg.

Pick: Real Madrid (-150)

Photo credit: “Real Madrid 4-1 Galatasaray” by l3o_, CC BY-SA 2.0 [http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0], via Flickr.