Ferran Jutglà

Striker - Celta
27 Feb 2028
Sunday
Process

Marked for Ferran Jutglà

79 Edition

The Celta Herald

31 Jan 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Luca Zidane breaks a bone — 53 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 53 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Market

Sanfrecce Hiroshima come back empty-handed

The bid was some way short and Celta did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Ionuţ Radu

There were 7 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

Squad

Unai Núñez says Celta went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Market

Ez Abde wants European nights

The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.

Squad

Hugo Álvarez is in the form of his life

A season average of 7.55 with 11 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.

Player ratings

One of those days for Hugo Álvarez

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.76, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Match

Celta hit back inside 1 minutes

Alavés held the lead for 1 minutes, which is not long enough to enjoy it. Celta answered before the celebration had properly finished, and the shape of the afternoon changed with it.

Loan watch

9 goals on loan for Manu Fernández

22 appearances at Granada and the goals keep coming. Celta are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.

In brief

Back issues
78 Edition

The Celta Herald

24 Jan 2028
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

Celta taken apart

1‑5 to Barcelona, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.

Squad

Luca Zidane breaks a bone — 60 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 60 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Market

Álvaro Núñez moves on

Valencia pay $10.0M, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.

Squad

Tempers go at Celta

Iago Aspas was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Match

Nobody could stop scoring

6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Celta and Barcelona in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.

Squad

Ilaix Moriba falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Player ratings

Ez Abde runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Javi Rodríguez gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Ferran Jutglà at his very best

Marked 8.20. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Celta.

In brief

77 Edition

The Celta Herald

17 Jan 2028
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Luca Zidane breaks a bone — 67 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 67 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Squad

Marcos Alonso: that is not what I was promised

“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Celta have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Player ratings

A brace, and Hugo Álvarez takes the afternoon — 8.72

There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Hugo Álvarez provided it, and the 8.72 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.

Squad

Jay Enem gets the move he always wanted

Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Jay Enem has just signed for Celta, and for once the answer mattered.

Market

Celta sign Jay Enem with one eye on the future

Nobody at the club will say out loud who this signing is for, which is how you know exactly who it is for. Jay Enem has been brought in to take a shirt somebody is still wearing.

Player ratings

Ez Abde runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 25. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Hugo Álvarez is carrying Celta

10 goals and a season average of 7.52. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.

Match

Levante take the points off Celta

Beaten 3‑4, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

Match

Nobody could stop scoring

7 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Celta and Levante in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.

In brief

75 Edition

The Celta Herald

3 Jan 2028
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A fracture rules Luca Zidane out for 85 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Celta will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Squad

13 seasons of Iago Aspas

467 appearances across 13 seasons in these colours. Careers like that are not built any more, and Celta know what they have.

Player ratings

Hugo Álvarez runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 25. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Market

Jorge puts it in writing

“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Celta, and it is not being withdrawn.

Squad

Ionuţ Radu in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Celta this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

6 goals as Celta and Rayo Vallecano go for it

Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Celta and Rayo Vallecano, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.

Market

Espanyol watching Carlos Dotor

The interest is real enough to have reached print. Celta have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.

Squad

Ilaix Moriba falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Player ratings

Williot Swedberg in the eights

A performance of 9.08 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

In brief

74 Edition

The Celta Herald

27 Dec 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Ionuţ Radu

There were 13 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

Squad

Luca Zidane breaks a bone — 93 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 93 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Player ratings

Iago Aspas, 40, rolls back the years — 8.41

There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.41 at 40, and nobody on the pitch was better.

Squad

Iago Aspas in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Celta this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Words at Celta training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ilaix Moriba is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Match

Williot Swedberg’s goal not enough for Celta

Williot Swedberg scored, and precious little else went right: 2‑3 to Real Madrid, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.

Player ratings

One of those days for Williot Swedberg

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.70, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Player ratings

Hugo Álvarez was on a different afternoon to everybody else

8.51. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.

Market

Unai Núñez wants European nights

The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.

In brief

73 Edition

The Celta Herald

20 Dec 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

A fracture rules Luca Zidane out for 101 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Celta will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Ionuţ Radu

There were 9 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

Player ratings

Nothing got past Ilaix Moriba

30 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.

Squad

Tempers go at Celta

Iago Aspas was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Squad

Ilaix Moriba falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Hugo Álvarez

Marked 9.06 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

Market

Luca Zidane wants European nights

The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.

Match

Celta see off Gijón

Three points for Celta, 1‑0 the final word against Gijón in a contest settled by the finer margins.

Player ratings

Carlos Domínguez leaves them behind him

Shots: 5. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.

In brief

72 Edition

The Celta Herald

13 Dec 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

No end in sight to Celta's wait for a win

10 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Celta has to find a result from somewhere.

Squad

A fracture rules Luca Zidane out for 110 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Celta will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Squad

Iago Aspas in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Celta this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Words at Celta training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ilaix Moriba is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Squad

Sergio Carreira signs a new deal

“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Sergio Carreira commits to Celta for another 4 years.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Williot Swedberg

Marked 9.08 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

The terraces

Celta supporters have found a favourite in Williot Swedberg

There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Williot Swedberg has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.

Player ratings

Iago Aspas runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 16. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Match

Celta share the spoils with Las Palmas

A 2‑2 draw with Las Palmas leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.

In brief

71 Edition

The Celta Herald

6 Dec 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

Luca Zidane breaks a bone — 118 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 118 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Ionuţ Radu

There were 10 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

Match

The wait goes on for Celta

9 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.

Squad

Tempers go at Celta

Iago Aspas was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Squad

Ilaix Moriba falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Match

Villarreal take the points off Celta

Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

Market

Celta may not be able to give Pablo Lago what he wants

It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Pablo Lago wants continental football; whether Celta can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.

Player ratings

Hugo Álvarez runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 16. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Boardroom

$94.0K lands at Celta thanks to Manu Fernández

A clause somebody insisted on years ago, in a negotiation nobody remembers, has just paid Celta $94.0K. Manu Fernández left a long time ago; the paperwork stayed.

In brief

70 Edition

The Celta Herald

29 Nov 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Ionuţ Radu keeps Celta in it on his own

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.

Match

No end in sight to Celta's wait for a win

8 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Celta has to find a result from somewhere.

Squad

Jorge breaks a bone — 45 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 45 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Squad

Tempers go at Celta

Ionuţ Radu was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Squad

Words at Celta training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ilaix Moriba is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Player ratings

One of those days for Hugo Álvarez

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.58, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Match

Hugo Álvarez rescues a point for Celta

It needed Hugo Álvarez to find the net to bring anything home at all: 2‑2 against Atlético Madrid, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Williot Swedberg

Successful dribbles: 14. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Boardroom

Celta bank $280.0K from an old deal

The unglamorous genius of a well-written contract. Hugo Sotelo is somebody else's player now, and $280.0K has arrived because the people who sold him thought further ahead than the transfer window.

In brief

69 Edition

The Celta Herald

22 Nov 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Player ratings

Iago Aspas scores twice — 8.83

Two goals and a mark of 8.83 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.

Squad

Jorge breaks a bone — 54 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 54 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Match

No end in sight to Celta's wait for a win

7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Celta has to find a result from somewhere.

Squad

Ionuţ Radu in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Celta this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

Iago Aspas’s goal not enough for Celta

Iago Aspas scored, and precious little else went right: 3‑4 to Deportivo La Coruña, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.

Match

Nobody could stop scoring

7 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Celta and Deportivo La Coruña in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.

Squad

Ilaix Moriba falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Ferran Jutglà

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Player ratings

Hugo Álvarez in the eights

A performance of 8.73 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

In brief

68 Edition

The Celta Herald

15 Nov 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Hugo Álvarez

Successful dribbles: 42. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

Jorge breaks a bone — 63 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 63 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Match

The wait goes on for Celta

6 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Juan Soriano

There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

Squad

Williot Swedberg signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Williot Swedberg and Celta agree another 5 years.

Squad

Iago Aspas in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Celta this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

A bad afternoon for Celta against Getafe

0‑1 to Getafe, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Player ratings

The chances came and went for Ferran Jutglà

10 shots, and a count that reads like a good afternoon until you check the other column. Strikers survive weeks like this on the understanding that the chances keep arriving; the day they stop is the day it becomes a problem.

The terraces

Everybody has an opinion about Arthur Caike

He is the name in every column and on every phone-in, which is a heavy thing to carry at any age. Some footballers thrive on it; others are quietly finished by it.

In brief

  • Market The clock does Antonio Puertas’s negotiating for him
  • Boardroom The Celta production line keeps running
67 Edition

The Celta Herald

8 Nov 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Álex Sola

Successful dribbles: 38. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

Juan Soriano decides it from twelve yards

2 kept out in the shoot-out, and a stadium that will still be describing them in twenty years. A goalkeeper only needs one of these to be remembered forever.

Match

The cup run ends for Celta

1‑1 against Levante, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.

Squad

A fracture rules Jorge out for 71 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Celta will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Match

No end in sight to Celta's wait for a win

5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Celta has to find a result from somewhere.

Squad

Tempers go at Celta

Iago Aspas was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Squad

Ilaix Moriba falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Player ratings

Ferran Jutglà keeps on missing

Shots: 16, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.

Match

Celta come up short against Athletic Bilbao

Athletic Bilbao left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

In brief

66 Edition

The Celta Herald

1 Nov 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

A fracture rules Jorge out for 78 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Celta will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Market

Luca Zidane asks to leave Celta

“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.

Squad

Iago Aspas in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Celta this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Pablo Durán

Successful dribbles: 22. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

Words at Celta training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ilaix Moriba is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Match

Ferran Jutglà’s goal not enough for Celta

Ferran Jutglà scored, and precious little else went right: 2‑3 to Mallorca, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.

Squad

No hiding place for Ionuţ Radu

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ionuţ Radu, and the manager let it.

Player ratings

Hugo Álvarez was on a different afternoon to everybody else

8.65. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.

Player ratings

One of those days for Ferran Jutglà

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.30, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

In brief

65 Edition

The Celta Herald

25 Oct 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Ionuţ Radu keeps Celta in it on his own

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.

Squad

A fracture rules Jorge out for 85 days

Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Celta will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.

Squad

Tempers go at Celta

Iago Aspas was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Squad

Ilaix Moriba falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

The terraces

The crowd has taken to Williot Swedberg

At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.

Market

Luca Zidane wants European nights

The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.

Player ratings

One of those days for Carlos Domínguez

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.40, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Player ratings

One of those days for Williot Swedberg

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.23, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Player ratings

Ferran Jutglà could have had three

12 attempts, none of them in. He got into the right places all afternoon, which is the hard part, and did the easy part badly — and that is the version of a bad day a manager can live with.

In brief

64 Edition

The Celta Herald

18 Oct 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Jorge breaks a bone — 93 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 93 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Juan Soriano

There were 8 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

Squad

Iago Aspas in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Celta this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Words at Celta training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ilaix Moriba is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Carlos Domínguez at his very best

Marked 8.76. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Celta.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Pablo Durán

Marked 8.06 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

In brief

62 Edition

The Celta Herald

4 Oct 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Jorge breaks a bone — 111 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 111 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Match

6 matches without a win for Celta

The run now stands at 6, and the questions being asked around Celta are no longer polite ones.

Squad

Ionuţ Radu keeps Celta in it on his own

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.

Squad

Iago Aspas signs on for more

“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Iago Aspas and Celta agree another 2 years.

Squad

Tempers go at Celta

Ionuţ Radu was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Loan watch

Miguel Román has seen enough of Valencia

“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Celta, and 1 appearances in 6 say he has earned the hearing.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Hugo Álvarez at his very best

Marked 8.93. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Celta.

Market

Pablo Lago wants European nights

The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.

Match

Hugo Álvarez rescues a point for Celta

It needed Hugo Álvarez to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Valencia, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.

In brief

61 Edition

The Celta Herald

27 Sep 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Player ratings

Hugo Álvarez runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 38. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Jorge breaks a bone — 120 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 120 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Match

5 matches without a win for Celta

The run now stands at 5, and the questions being asked around Celta are no longer polite ones.

Squad

Tempers go at Celta

Iago Aspas was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Squad

Pablo Lago is a better footballer than he was

Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 20 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.

Squad

Ilaix Moriba falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

In brief

60 Edition

The Celta Herald

20 Sep 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Player ratings

Ilaix Moriba was immovable

38 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.

Squad

Jorge breaks a bone — 129 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 129 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Ionuţ Radu

There were 6 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

Squad

Matías Vecino: that is not what I was promised

“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Celta have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Match

The wait goes on for Celta

4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Williot Swedberg

Successful dribbles: 23. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

Iago Aspas in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Celta this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Player ratings

Nothing got past Carl Starfelt

Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 21 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.

Player ratings

The one thing Ferran Jutglà could not do

Shots: 11, enough of them from close enough that a striker in form scores two. He is not a striker in form.

In brief

  • Match Point won or two lost for Celta?
  • Loan watch The goals keep arriving from Manu Fernández’s exile
  • Market The shop window has Jorge in it
59 Edition

The Celta Herald

13 Sep 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Jorge breaks a bone — 136 days out

Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 136 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.

Squad

Javi Rueda keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Celta may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Match

Nobody wins at Celta

11 home matches unbeaten. Visiting sides arrive already talking about the atmosphere, which is usually the sign that they have half-lost before kickoff.

Squad

Tempers go at Celta

Iago Aspas was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Squad

Yoel Lago is a better footballer than he was

Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 23 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Ferran Jutglà at his very best

Marked 8.55. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Celta.

Match

Ferran Jutglà rescues a point for Celta

It needed Ferran Jutglà to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Barcelona, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.

Player ratings

Hugo Álvarez runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 14. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Loan watch

3 goals on loan for Manu Fernández

4 appearances at Granada and the goals keep coming. Celta are watching this more closely than the borrowing club would like.

In brief

58 Edition

The Celta Herald

6 Sep 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Juan Soriano keeps Celta in it on his own

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 9 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.

Squad

Iago Aspas in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Celta this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

A late step up for Alejandro Iturbe

At 24 the improving is meant to be over. It is not: 3 points better than the mark taken at the start of the year, which is the sort of thing that happens to players who take the boring parts of the job seriously.

Squad

Words at Celta training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ilaix Moriba is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Hugo Álvarez

Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Player ratings

Carlos Domínguez in the eights

A performance of 8.54 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Player ratings

The chances came and went for Ferran Jutglà

11 shots, and a count that reads like a good afternoon until you check the other column. Strikers survive weeks like this on the understanding that the chances keep arriving; the day they stop is the day it becomes a problem.

Match

Carlos Domínguez rescues a point for Celta

It needed Carlos Domínguez to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Levante, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.

Market

No place for Álvaro Núñez in the plan

“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Álvaro Núñez has his answer from Celta; what he does with it is the next window’s story.

In brief

57 Edition

The Celta Herald

30 Aug 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Market

Arthur Caike puts it in writing

“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Celta, and it is not being withdrawn.

Player ratings

Iago Aspas, 40, rolls back the years — 8.68

There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.68 at 40, and nobody on the pitch was better.

Squad

Ionuţ Radu lets one through his hands

A defender's mistake gets tidied up by somebody else; a goalkeeper's ends up in the net. He knew before the ball crossed the line, and so did everybody in the ground.

Squad

Tempers go at Celta

Iago Aspas was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Match

Iago Aspas’s goal not enough for Celta

Iago Aspas scored, and precious little else went right: 3‑4 to Espanyol, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.

Match

7 goals as Celta and Espanyol go for it

Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 7 goals between Celta and Espanyol, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.

Squad

Ilaix Moriba falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Squad

Juan Soriano has improved at 30, which nobody expected

Careers are supposed to plateau and then decline, and the players who ignore that are always the ones who were listening on the training ground. 3 points of it, over months, at an age where the direction normally only goes one way.

Player ratings

Hugo Álvarez in the eights

A performance of 8.73 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

In brief

45 Edition

The Celta Herald

7 Jun 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Marcos Alonso damages knee ligaments — 68 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 68 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.

Market

Atlético Madrid come back empty-handed

The bid was some way short and Celta did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.

Boardroom

The Celta board want somebody sold

The instruction has come from upstairs rather than from the dugout, which is the version of this conversation no manager enjoys. Somebody in that squad is now available whether the man who picks the team thinks so or not.

Market

Palmeiras join the queue for Ferran Jutglà

Add another name to the list: Palmeiras have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Ferran Jutglà. The answer from Celta has not changed — yet.

Squad

Tempers go at Celta

Iago Aspas was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Squad

Ilaix Moriba falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

In brief

44 Edition

The Celta Herald

31 May 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Marcos Alonso damages knee ligaments — 75 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 75 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.

Squad

Manu Fernández says Celta went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Squad

The season belongs to Ferran Jutglà

An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and Celta have had the benefit of it.

In brief

41 Edition

The Celta Herald

10 May 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Marcos Alonso damages knee ligaments — 102 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 102 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.

Match

Chastening afternoon for Celta

A 1‑8 beating by Real Madrid was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.

Squad

Defences have started doubling up on Hugo Álvarez

11 goals and a season average of 7.53 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.

Squad

Ionuţ Radu in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Celta this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

Nobody could stop scoring

9 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Celta and Real Madrid in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.

Squad

Ilaix Moriba falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Player ratings

Hugo Álvarez runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 21. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Player ratings

One of those days for Ferran Jutglà

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.35, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Boardroom

Nobody left the Celta dressing room in a hurry

The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.

In brief

39 Edition

The Celta Herald

26 Apr 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

Ionuţ Radu keeps Celta in it on his own

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 12 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.

Player ratings

Nothing got past Javi Rodríguez

Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 35 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Hugo Álvarez

Successful dribbles: 28. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

Tempers go at Celta

Iago Aspas was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Squad

Ilaix Moriba falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Player ratings

One of those days for Williot Swedberg

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.10, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

The terraces

The crowd has taken to Williot Swedberg

At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.

Match

Ferran Jutglà the difference as Celta beat Valencia

Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Ferran Jutglà. 2‑0 against Valencia, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.

Player ratings

Carlos Dotor in the eights

A performance of 8.34 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

In brief

38 Edition

The Celta Herald

19 Apr 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Ionuţ Radu

There were 9 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

Player ratings

A defender's afternoon for Sergio Carreira

Defensive actions: 26. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.

Squad

Tempers go at Celta

Iago Aspas was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Player ratings

Hugo Sotelo shuts the door

Defensive actions: 22, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.

Squad

Ilaix Moriba falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Player ratings

Williot Swedberg runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 21. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Player ratings

One of those days for Ferran Jutglà

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.58, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Match

The run at home goes on for Celta

8 matches unbeaten here. Every visiting manager is asked about it in the week before, which is precisely why it keeps going.

Match

Ferran Jutglà sends Celta past Girona

It finished 1‑0, and it was Ferran Jutglà’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Celta.

In brief

37 Edition

The Celta Herald

12 Apr 2027
From our football correspondent Steady

Squad

Ionuţ Radu keeps Celta in it on his own

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 13 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.

Squad

Carlos Dotor says Celta went back on their word

“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.

Squad

Iago Aspas in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Celta this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Words at Celta training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ilaix Moriba is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Iago Aspas

Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Match

Celta come up short against Atlético Madrid

Atlético Madrid left with the points after a 0‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

In brief

36 Edition

The Celta Herald

5 Apr 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Ionuţ Radu

There were 7 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

Player ratings

Matías Vecino was immovable

29 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.

Match

Still nobody has beaten Celta

The unbeaten run reaches 10. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.

Squad

Pablo Lago keeps the receipts

“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Celta may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.

Squad

Hugo Álvarez is in the form of his life

A season average of 7.50 with 11 goals behind it. Opponents have started planning around him, which is the sincerest compliment football pays.

Squad

Tempers go at Celta

Iago Aspas was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Player ratings

Ferran Jutglà leaves them behind him

Shots: 15. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.

Player ratings

Hugo Álvarez was on a different afternoon to everybody else

9.12. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.

The terraces

The crowd has taken to Hugo Álvarez

At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.

In brief

34 Edition

The Celta Herald

22 Mar 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Squad

A knee injury of the worst kind for Borja Iglesias

27 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Celta lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.

Squad

Juan Soriano keeps Celta in it on his own

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 10 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.

Market

Tomás Ribeiro hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Celta can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Álvaro Núñez: that is not what I was promised

“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Celta have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Match

8 unbeaten for Celta

Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 8 matches without defeat is a foundation Celta did not have in the autumn.

Squad

Ionuţ Radu in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Celta this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Player ratings

Hugo Álvarez runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 22. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Ferran Jutglà at his very best

Marked 8.40. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Celta.

Match

Ferran Jutglà rescues a point for Celta

It needed Ferran Jutglà to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Athletic Bilbao, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.

In brief

33 Edition

The Celta Herald

15 Mar 2027
From our football correspondent Triumph

Squad

Borja Iglesias damages knee ligaments — 35 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 35 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Ionuţ Radu

There were 7 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

Match

Celta cannot stop winning

5 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.

Squad

Tempers go at Celta

Ionuţ Radu was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Squad

Hugo Álvarez is carrying Celta

10 goals and a season average of 7.46. Form like that gets noticed well beyond this town.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Hugo Álvarez

Marked 9.08 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

In brief

32 Edition

The Celta Herald

8 Mar 2027
From our football correspondent Triumph

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Ionuţ Radu

There were 15 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

Squad

Borja Iglesias damages knee ligaments — 42 days out

The words a physio says slowly. 42 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.

Squad

Iago Aspas has been here 12 seasons

437 appearances across 12 seasons in one shirt. Nobody builds a career like that on purpose any more; it happens to a certain kind of footballer at a certain kind of club.

Match

Celta cannot stop winning

4 wins on the spin now, and the question has changed from whether the run ends to who ends it. Confidence like this cannot be bought; it has to be earned exactly this way.

Boardroom

The Celta board want somebody sold

The instruction has come from upstairs rather than from the dugout, which is the version of this conversation no manager enjoys. Somebody in that squad is now available whether the man who picks the team thinks so or not.

Squad

Iago Aspas stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Iago Aspas and Celta agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Match

Hugo Álvarez the difference as Celta beat Betis

Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Hugo Álvarez. 3‑2 against Betis, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.

Player ratings

One of those days for Hugo Álvarez

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.12, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Player ratings

Pablo Durán was on a different afternoon to everybody else

8.65. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.

In brief

29 Edition

The Celta Herald

15 Feb 2027
From our football correspondent Upbeat

Match

Ferran Jutglà wins it after the whistle should have gone

92 minutes played. Ferran Jutglà found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Villarreal went from a point to nothing inside one movement.

Squad

Ferran Jutglà takes the match ball home

3 goals in one afternoon from one man. The other players were also present, a witness confirmed.

Market

Tomás Ribeiro hands in a written request

“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Celta can pretend not to have heard.

Squad

Iago Aspas in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Celta this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Words at Celta training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ilaix Moriba is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Player ratings

One of those days for Ferran Jutglà

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.62, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Match

Celta get the job done against Villarreal

A 3‑2 win over Villarreal, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Aleix Febas

Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

Ionuţ Radu is still paying for one afternoon at Celta

Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.

In brief

25 Edition

The Celta Herald

18 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Player ratings

Hugo Álvarez runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 33. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Ionuţ Radu keeps Celta in it on his own

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.

Player ratings

Iago Aspas, 39, rolls back the years — 8.92

There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.92 at 39, and nobody on the pitch was better.

Market

Tomás Ribeiro asks to leave Celta

“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.

Squad

Iago Aspas in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Celta this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Words at Celta training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ilaix Moriba is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Match

Iago Aspas the difference as Celta beat Levante

Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Iago Aspas. 2‑1 against Levante, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Carl Starfelt

Marked 8.87 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Aleix Febas

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

In brief

24 Edition

The Celta Herald

11 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Luca Zidane is a Celta player

The fee is $7.6M, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Granada drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.

Market

Celta sign Juan Soriano for $4.1M

The paperwork is done: Juan Soriano joins from Leganés in a deal worth $4.1M. Now comes the harder part.

Match

No end in sight to Celta's wait for a win

5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Celta has to find a result from somewhere.

Squad

A move Juan Soriano would have made for nothing

There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Juan Soriano is living that version at Celta, and it tends to show in the first month.

Squad

Tempers go at Celta

Iago Aspas was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Squad

Ilaix Moriba falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Player ratings

One of those days for Carlos Dotor

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.86, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

Player ratings

Hugo Álvarez runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 19. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Player ratings

Ferran Jutglà leaves them behind him

Shots: 13. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.

In brief

23 Edition

The Celta Herald

4 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

Celta sink to position 18

18 points, and a fixture list that is running out. The mathematics are not yet cruel, but they are no longer kind.

Market

Palmeiras come back empty-handed

The bid was some way short and Celta did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Hugo Álvarez

Successful dribbles: 25. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Match

The wait goes on for Celta

4 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.

Squad

Iago Aspas in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Celta this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Words at Celta training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ilaix Moriba is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Player ratings

Carl Starfelt in the eights

A performance of 9.07 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Squad

No hiding place for Ionuţ Radu

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Ionuţ Radu, and the manager let it.

The terraces

The crowd has taken to Williot Swedberg

At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.

In brief

22 Edition

The Celta Herald

28 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Ionuţ Radu

There were 8 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

Squad

Tempers go at Celta

Iago Aspas was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Squad

Ilaix Moriba falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Match

Celta come up short against Real Madrid

Real Madrid left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

Market

Hugo Sotelo wants European nights

The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Hugo Álvarez

Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

In brief

21 Edition

The Celta Herald

21 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Iván Villar: that is not what I was promised

“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Celta have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.

Squad

Words at Celta training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ilaix Moriba is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Squad

Carl Starfelt in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Celta this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Hugo Álvarez at his very best

Marked 8.88. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Celta.

The terraces

Celta supporters have found a favourite in Hugo Álvarez

There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Hugo Álvarez has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.

Market

Javi Rueda wants European nights

The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.

Squad

Defences have started doubling up on Hugo Álvarez

5 goals and a season average of 7.25 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.

Match

Celta share the spoils with Real Sociedad

A 1‑1 draw with Real Sociedad leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.

Player ratings

Ferran Jutglà could have had three

11 attempts, none of them in. He got into the right places all afternoon, which is the hard part, and did the easy part badly — and that is the version of a bad day a manager can live with.

In brief

20 Edition

The Celta Herald

14 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Player ratings

Hugo Álvarez runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 28. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Ionuţ Radu in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Celta this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Ilaix Moriba falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Match

Valencia take the points off Celta

Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.

Squad

No hiding place for Marcos Alonso

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Marcos Alonso, and the manager let it.

Squad

Marcos Alonso wants out of the spotlight

The ambition story running the other way, and the one nobody tells: a footballer asking for a smaller stage, fewer cameras and a crowd that does not turn. It is not weakness and it is very rarely reported as anything else.

Player ratings

Borja Iglesias could have had three

13 attempts, none of them in. He got into the right places all afternoon, which is the hard part, and did the easy part badly — and that is the version of a bad day a manager can live with.

Player ratings

The one thing Ferran Jutglà could not do

Shots: 6, enough of them from close enough that a striker in form scores two. He is not a striker in form.

Loan watch

Yoel Lago wants to stay at Cultural Leonesa

“I am playing every week here and I feel like a footballer again.” 16 appearances and 3 goals on loan, and a decision waiting in the summer.

In brief

  • Player ratings An afternoon Aleix Febas will want back
  • Loan watch The goals keep arriving from Yoel Lago’s exile
19 Edition

The Celta Herald

7 Dec 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Player ratings

Nothing got past Ilaix Moriba

37 defensive actions and a clean sheet at the end of them. A defender's afternoon can only be told by what did not happen, which is why nobody makes a highlights package out of one and every manager in the division would take it.

Player ratings

Carlos Domínguez was immovable

30 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.

Market

Celta say no — this time

The offer from Internacional for Ferran Jutglà was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.

Boardroom

An order from above at Celta: somebody has to go

Balance sheets do not care about form or about who the manager was planning to build around. The board have decided a sale is required, and the only question left is which name ends up carrying it.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Hugo Álvarez

Successful dribbles: 23. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

Tempers go at Celta

Ionuţ Radu was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Squad

Words at Celta training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ilaix Moriba is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Player ratings

Ninety minutes of Carl Starfelt at his very best

Marked 9.45. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Celta.

The terraces

The crowd has taken to Williot Swedberg

At 22 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.

In brief

18 Edition

The Celta Herald

30 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Ionuţ Radu

There were 9 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

Player ratings

Hugo Álvarez runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 30. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Market

Tomás Ribeiro puts it in writing

“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Celta, and it is not being withdrawn.

Match

6 matches without a win for Celta

The run now stands at 6, and the questions being asked around Celta are no longer polite ones.

Squad

Ionuţ Radu in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Celta this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Ilaix Moriba falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Match

A bad afternoon for Celta against Atlético Madrid

0‑2 to Atlético Madrid, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.

Squad

Tomás Ribeiro wants to go home

“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Celta know it.

Player ratings

Ferran Jutglà keeps on missing

Shots: 13, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.

In brief

17 Edition

The Celta Herald

23 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

The wait goes on for Celta

5 without a win now, and the ground has developed the special quiet of a crowd that expects the worst. One scrappy 1-0 would cure most of it; that is the maddening part.

Squad

Iago Aspas in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Celta this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Words at Celta training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ilaix Moriba is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Match

Celta come up short against Elche

Elche left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

Squad

Costly mistake from Iván Villar

An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. Iván Villar knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.

Squad

No hiding place for Sergio Carreira

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Sergio Carreira, and the manager let it.

In brief

16 Edition

The Celta Herald

16 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

4 matches without a win for Celta

The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Celta are no longer polite ones.

Squad

Tempers go at Celta

Iago Aspas was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Player ratings

Iago Aspas runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 21. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Ilaix Moriba falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Match

Celta come up short against Getafe

Getafe left with the points after a 1‑2 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

Player ratings

Hugo Álvarez was on a different afternoon to everybody else

8.94. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.

In brief

15 Edition

The Celta Herald

9 Nov 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

Chastening afternoon for Celta

A 1‑5 beating by Athletic Bilbao was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.

Match

Celta bow out of the cup

Deportivo La Coruña go through and Celta go home, 0‑1 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.

Squad

Ionuţ Radu keeps Celta in it on his own

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.

The terraces

The boos come down from three sides

“We pay for this every fortnight. The least we want is somebody who looks like he cares.” 6 of the 30 senior players walked off into it; the rest were not playing.

Squad

Iago Aspas in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Celta this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

Hugo Álvarez among the goals in a wild afternoon

6 goals in one match, Hugo Álvarez on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of Celta and Athletic Bilbao.

Squad

Words at Celta training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ilaix Moriba is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Player ratings

Hugo Álvarez runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

No hiding place for Javi Rodríguez

“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Javi Rodríguez, and the manager let it.

In brief

13 Edition

The Celta Herald

26 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Match

Iago Aspas wins it after the whistle should have gone

94 minutes played. Iago Aspas found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and Betis went from a point to nothing inside one movement.

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Ionuţ Radu

There were 8 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

Player ratings

Age has not caught Iago Aspas yet — 8.81

At 39 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 8.81 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.

Squad

Tempers go at Celta

Ionuţ Radu was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Squad

Words at Celta training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ilaix Moriba is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Match

Iago Aspas sends Celta past Betis

It finished 3‑2, and it was Iago Aspas’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Celta.

Player ratings

One of those days for Hugo Álvarez

There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.40, and no argument anywhere in the ground.

The terraces

Celta supporters have found a favourite in Hugo Álvarez

There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Hugo Álvarez has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.

Market

Celta may not be able to give Hugo Sotelo what he wants

It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Hugo Sotelo wants continental football; whether Celta can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.

In brief

11 Edition

The Celta Herald

12 Oct 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Iván Villar keeps Celta in it on his own

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 7 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.

Squad

Hugo Sotelo is a better footballer than he was

Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 22 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.

Squad

Tempers go at Celta

Ionuţ Radu was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Player ratings

Pablo Durán in the eights

A performance of 8.80 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Aleix Febas

“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.

Match

Celta share the spoils with Sevilla

A 1‑1 draw with Sevilla leaves the dressing room somewhere between relief and regret.

Player ratings

Carlos Dotor runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 14. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Player ratings

The chances came and went for Ferran Jutglà

7 shots, and a count that reads like a good afternoon until you check the other column. Strikers survive weeks like this on the understanding that the chances keep arriving; the day they stop is the day it becomes a problem.

Player ratings

The one thing Hugo Álvarez could not do

Shots: 4, enough of them from close enough that a striker in form scores two. He is not a striker in form.

In brief

9 Edition

The Celta Herald

28 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Hugo Álvarez

Successful dribbles: 35. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

Iago Aspas in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Celta this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Words at Celta training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ilaix Moriba is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Match

Celta come up short against Osasuna

Osasuna left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.

Squad

Álex Sola gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Squad

Celta pick somebody else ahead of Borja Iglesias

There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.

In brief

7 Edition

The Celta Herald

14 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

4 matches without a win for Celta

The run now stands at 4, and the questions being asked around Celta are no longer polite ones.

Squad

Words at Celta training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ilaix Moriba is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Squad

Tempers go at Celta

Javi Galán was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Player ratings

Pablo Durán in the eights

A performance of 8.70 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Carlos Dotor

Marked 8.21 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

Squad

Pablo Martínez gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

Match

Pablo Durán rescues a point for Celta

It needed Pablo Durán to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Barcelona, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.

Squad

Celta pick somebody else ahead of Pablo Martínez

There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.

Player ratings

Ferran Jutglà could have had three

9 attempts, none of them in. He got into the right places all afternoon, which is the hard part, and did the easy part badly — and that is the version of a bad day a manager can live with.

In brief

6 Edition

The Celta Herald

7 Sep 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Player ratings

Hugo Álvarez runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 27. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Squad

Ionuţ Radu in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Celta this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Match

6 goals as Celta and Levante go for it

Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 6 goals between Celta and Levante, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.

Squad

Ilaix Moriba falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Player ratings

Ferran Jutglà was on a different afternoon to everybody else

8.21. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.

Match

Celta and Levante take a point apiece

It finished 3‑3, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.

Squad

The manager has not finished forgetting Ilaix Moriba's mistake

Publicly it is behind everybody. It is not behind the man who picks the team, and the only place that shows is a team sheet. He will get another chance; he will get it in a match that matters less.

Squad

8 new faces, and Celta are still learning each other

A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.

Player ratings

Off the pace: Ilaix Moriba

A mark of 4.89 tells the story without any need for embellishment. He will want the tape of this one quietly lost.

In brief

  • Player ratings An afternoon Hugo Sotelo will want back
  • Market Celta shop where it costs nothing
  • The terraces The spotlight tightens on Jorge
5 Edition

The Celta Herald

31 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

Espanyol punish Celta for switching off

2 goals to the good, and then a slow surrender of everything that had been earned. Ferran Jutglà will not be the one blamed for it, but nobody at Celta escapes the conversation that follows a collapse like this.

Squad

Ionuţ Radu keeps Celta in it on his own

Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.

Squad

Tempers go at Celta

Ionuţ Radu was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.

Squad

Pedro Ortiz gets the move he always wanted

Footballers are asked about their boyhood club so often that nobody listens to the answer. Pedro Ortiz has just signed for Celta, and for once the answer mattered.

Squad

Words at Celta training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Ilaix Moriba is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.

Player ratings

Hugo Álvarez was on a different afternoon to everybody else

8.87. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.

The terraces

Celta supporters have found a favourite in Hugo Álvarez

There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Hugo Álvarez has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.

Player ratings

A masterclass from Ferran Jutglà

Marked 8.20 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.

Match

Ferran Jutglà rescues a point for Celta

It needed Ferran Jutglà to find the net to bring anything home at all: 2‑2 against Espanyol, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.

In brief

4 Edition

The Celta Herald

24 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Crisis

Squad

A move Álex Sola would have made for nothing

There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Álex Sola is living that version at Celta, and it tends to show in the first month.

Squad

Marcos Alonso pulls a muscle — 16 days out

The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 16 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.

Squad

Ionuţ Radu in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Celta this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Ilaix Moriba falls out with a teammate over standards

The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.

Player ratings

Hugo Álvarez runs at them all day

Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.

Match

Ferran Jutglà’s goal not enough for Celta

Ferran Jutglà scored, and precious little else went right: 1‑2 to Rayo Vallecano, and a quiet walk to the dressing room.

In brief

2 Edition

The Celta Herald

10 Aug 2026
From our football correspondent Steady

Market

Celta turn down Barcelona for Ilaix Moriba

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Squad

Ilaix Moriba stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Ilaix Moriba and Celta agree another 5 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

Squad

Iago Aspas in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Celta this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

A move Heinz Mörschel would have made for nothing

There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Heinz Mörschel is living that version at Celta, and it tends to show in the first month.

Market

Cultural Leonesa join the queue for Miguel Román

Add another name to the list: Cultural Leonesa have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Miguel Román. The answer from Celta has not changed — yet.

Squad

Ferran Jutglà gets it from the manager

“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.

In brief