Kroos and Benzema were Celta's tormentors at the Balaidos. The German assisted and the Frenchman scored to open the scoring and the duo linked up again to make it two. This time, they were given help by Celta's Renato Tapia, who was slow when it came to playing the ball out from the back.
The '14' received the ball along the floor, he did not control it well and he took to long to lay it off to a teammate. That allowed Kroos to dispossess him. He stuck his foot in between Tapia's legd and cleanly got the ball off him.
The ball rolled towards Benzema and he beat Ivan Villar once again. The keeper could not do anything as it was from such close range. It wasa major setback for Coudet's men.
The home side had some good attacks in the first half, but they were not as clinical as their opponents. Celta missed their chances while Madrid took theirs.
Just before the interval, Santi Mina managed to pull one back for Celta though to set up an interesting second half.
March 20, 2021