Real Madrid will be in the hat for the Copa del Rey quarter-final draw, although their progress has been far from easy. They defeated Celta Vigo 5-2 in their last 16 tie at the Santiago Bernabeu, which required extra time.
Carlo Ancelotti's side dominated the opening stages but it wasn't until the 37th minute that the deadlock was broken – and that was in controversial circumstances. Moments after Celta claimed a penalty after Williot Swedberg went down under Andriy Lunin's challenge, Kylian Mbappé scored a fine solo goal.
Three minutes after halftime, Real Madrid doubled their lead. Mbappe took center stage again as he played in behind against Brahim Diaz, and the Moroccan slipped in Vinicius Junior to score his first goal of 2025.
Chaos ensued in the final minutes of normal playing time. Arda Guler had a late goal disallowed by VAR, while Jonathan Bamba pulled a goal back for Celta shortly afterwards. The visitors were then awarded a penalty in the 90th minute, which was converted by Marcos Alonso.
As a result, extra time was required, although it was Real Madrid who emerged victorious when substitute Endrick Felipe scored the winning goal in the 108th minute. Federico Valverde would put the icing on the cake shortly afterwards when he added the fourth with a thunderous strike, and things got even better when Endrick added his second and Los Blancos' fifth.
In the end, Real Madrid held on for the win. They will expect success in this season's Copa del Rey, and it will be interesting to see who they are drawn against in the quarter-finals.
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