Overview
Celta Vigo are having a challenging season, despite returning to the European arena for the first time since 2016-2019 after finishing seventh in La Liga last season.
Under the leadership of coach Claudio Giraldez, the Madrid team has yet to find a victory in the opening 9 rounds of La Liga 2025-2026 (7 draws, 2 losses). Despite their resilience, Celta are having difficulty converting the draw into a win.
In the match against Real Sociedad last weekend, Celta seemed to have taken 3 points after Pablo Duran's opening goal in the 20th minute. However, Carl Starfelt's red card at the end of the first half turned the game around. Carlos Soler scored an equalizer for Sociedad in the 89th minute, forcing Celta to accept a 1-1 draw at home.
However, Celta still have reason to be optimistic. In the Europa League arena, they had an impressive 3-1 victory over PAOK earlier this month, after a narrow opening loss to Stuttgart. That result helped the Spanish team maintain a 6-match unbeaten streak in all competitions (1 win, 5 draws), extending since the 0-2 defeat to Getafe in the first round.
Nice qualified for the third qualifying round of the Champions League thanks to fourth place in Ligue 1 last season, but the final 0-4 defeat to Benfica forced them to play in the Europa League.
However, the journey in the European arena this season of the Riviera team did not start smoothly. Nice lost both of their opening matches of the group stage against AS Roma and Fenerbahce with a score of 1-2, thereby falling into a situation where they must win if they want to keep their hopes of passing the group stage.
The form of the team led by coach Francesco Farioli has also declined compared to last season. After 12 official matches in all competitions, Nice have only had 3 wins, 2 draws and 7 losses. However, the French team has just regained their joy when defeating Lyon 3-2 at the Allianz Riviera last weekend, ending a streak of 5 consecutive winsless matches.
3 players Melvin Bard, Sofiane Diop and Hicham Boudaoui scored in turn, helping Nice win their third of their last 5 home matches, thereby climbing to 10th place in Ligue 1.
However, Nice are still looking for their first away win of the 2025-2026 season, having lost four and drawn one of their five away games since the start of the season. With the upcoming away trip to Spain, Farioli's team needs to show more to avoid falling behind in the Europa League race.
Personnel situation
Celta striker Williot Swedberg is still doubtful to play after suffering an ankle injury. Mihailo Ristic is likely to return to play after recovering from a muscle injury, which has kept him out for the last 5 matches.
Carlos Dominguez, Damian Rodriguez, Javi Rueda and Iago Aspas could all be in the squad if Giraldez decides to strengthen the force for this match.
On the opposite side, Youssouf Ndayishimiye, Moise Bombito and Mohamed Abdelmonem are all absent due to injury and are not on the Europa League registration list.
Striker Terem Moffi will be out for a few weeks after missing the 3-2 win over Lyon with a calf injury. Defender Ali Abdi was suspended for the Ligue 1 match last weekend, but will return to the squad for the away trip to Galicia.
Expected lineup:
Celta Vigo: Radu, Dominguez, Starfelt, Alonso, Rueda, Rodriguez, Moriba, Mingueza, Aspas, Duran, Iglesias.
Nice: Diouf, Mendy, Dante, Peprah, Clauss, Boudaoui, Vanhoutte, Bard, Boga, Diop, Cho.
The match between Celta Vigo and Nice takes place at 2:00 am on October 24 (Vietnam time).
