Celta Vigo gets De la Torre assist only to utterly collapse late in loss to Barcelona

Celta…guys what happened?

Celta Vigo thought it had it all on Saturday.

Rafael Benítez’s side faced a daunting away day against Barcelona, but for 80 minutes it looked like Celta was set to stun La Liga’s defending champions.

An early goal from Jørgen Strand Larsen set up by U.S. men’s national team midfielder Luca de la Torre gave Celta the lead. A defensive masterclass — despite trailing, Barça managed just six shot attempts in the game’s first 65 minutes — seemed to leave the visitors poised to pick up a shock win.

However, Barça stormed back with three goals in an eight-minute span, climbing from a 2-0 deficit in the 80th minute to win thanks to João Cancelo’s 89th minute winner.

It could have been so different. Celta took the lead after breaking up an attempt from Barcelona to surge forward. An early ball forward found De la Torre, who despite being completely cleaned out by Jules Koundé managed to slip the ball wide to Strand Larsen for the finish.

Barcelona couldn’t really find any traction in the game, and in the 76th minute a marvelous pass from veteran Iago Aspas sent Anastasios Douvikas racing in behind to make it 2-0. That’s a wrap on this one folks! Definitely nothing else to see here.

That second goal looked huge when some clever interplay between Robert Lewandowski and João Félix ended with the Polish striker acrobatically prodding home what looked for all the world like a consolation goal.

At least, that’s what it should have been. Unfortunately for Celta, just as Barça began lifting its play and attacking with more conviction, the visitors started to hesitate.

The thing is, when a team has the kind of talent Barcelona does, you can’t really hesitate if you want to prevent things like this from happening.

Lewandowski’s second completed the 180-degree change in vibes, and suddenly it seemed like a Barcelona victory was inevitable.

The source of the goal, perhaps, was the only surprise. A Lewandowski hat trick? Some João Félix sauce? Maybe something from Raphinha or İlkay Gündoğan?

Nope. João Cancelo would end up finishing the comeback, taking advantage as De la Torre tried to pass him off to distracted teammates to sprint in and finish off Gavi’s inswinging cross.

It was a heartbreaker for Celta, and the result only became more frustrating in stoppage time. There, one last surge forward ended with Óscar Mingueza receiving the ball in a glorious position, only to agonizingly drag his 13-yard shot wide.

As the club has been doing off the field for a couple of years now, Barcelona wriggled out of one more jam, going top of the table in the process. Celta, meanwhile, has just one win from six after throwing this one away, and is one point clear of the drop zone.

[lawrence-related id=13996,28489,27456]