Celtic 4-Majorca 3 | Aspas reigns in madness

Emotion until the last second to certify the important victory of Celta, who managed to beat Mallorca sixteen years later to keep the flame of Europe alive. Cruel defeat on the last play for Luis García’s team, who drew three times resisting the Celtic push but ended up succumbing and get into a good qualifying mess. Balaídos saw a vibrant duel, constant alternative on the scoreboard, seven goals, one sent off, two penalties and the agonizing goal by Aspas to lower the blind of a frenetic, absolutely crazy match.

Galhardo, the surprise in Coudet’s eleven, immediately broke his spell. The Brazilian finally saw the door after 639 minutes (more than ten and a half hours) of abstinence. He did it by taking advantage of a rebound after a shot from Cervi that crashed into the crossbar. However, his joy was short-lived, as Giovanni, the main novelty in the visiting line-up, claimed his share of the limelight. The Uruguayan finished off a great play by Jaume Costa, who first stole Aidoo’s bag and then put a good serve to the far post.

The blow did not affect Celta, who continued to combine at a great pace, disarming Mallorca in each association move. Thus, in one of the fastest and most choral, Denis’ goal came to put Celta back in the lead again. VAR came into action for the first time to validate a goal that had been annulled in the first instance due to an offside by Cervi, who did not participate in the play. After the 2-1, Coudet’s men continued to step on the fast track in search of the third. Brais and Galhardo tried, but Rico closed the door on them.

The rest did not stop the madness, on the contrary, it increased it to unsuspected levels. Raillo equalized when the A-Team music was still playing and Aspas disguised himself as a right-hander to volley an assist from Cervi into the net. It was impossible to blink without something happening. After a while, Raillo fired at the crossbar. Incessant exchange of blows before the final fireworks.

The hands appeared on the scene to signal a penalty in each area. First in favor of Mallorca after an eternal review on the monitor. Finally Ortiz Arias pointed out the fateful point and ejected Mallo. Double blow for Celta that would still be a triple when Salva Sevilla beat Dituro. Not even with ten did Celta take out the white flag, who went for the three points as if they had twelve players. Aspas brushed the epic in 93′ with a left-footed shot from the edge of the field and reached it in 97′ from eleven metres. This time Maffeo’s hand was clear and the moañés did not forgive Rico. Balaídos collapsed to celebrate a tremendous triumph over the buzzer. Faith moves mountains, perhaps even to Europe.