Celta confirmed a European season with a narrow win against Sevilla
Celta Vigo ended the LaLiga season with a 1:0 win against Sevilla at the Abanca Balaídos stadium in Vigo, in the 38th-round match played on Saturday, May 23, 2026. The match did not offer many goals, but it carried great competitive weight for the home side, which kept sixth place with the victory and confirmed qualification for the Europa League. According to LaLiga's official match report, the only goal was scored by Ilaix Moriba in the 51st minute, after an assist from Fer López and a set piece that the home team used well. Sevilla tried to find an equalizer in the final stages, but Celta defended the minimal advantage and rounded off the season with a result that had far greater value in Vigo than the statistics alone.
The duel at Balaídos was a typical final-round match in which the rhythm changed depending on news from other stadiums, but Celta did not wait for help from rivals. Claudio Giráldez's team entered the match with the clear aim of confirming its European position through its own result, while Sevilla was already out of the fight for the key objectives in the table. According to Mundo Deportivo's report, Celta's victory made Getafe's triumph irrelevant, as Getafe had been the immediate pursuer in the fight for sixth place. Cadena SER stated in its review of the final round that Celta will play in the Europa League together with Real Sociedad, while Getafe finished in the position that leads to the Conference League.
One moment decided a firm and closed match
The first half ended goalless, but it was not without attempts and tactical outwitting. Celta tried to keep the match under control, spread play through the wings and use Fer López between the lines, while Sevilla threatened through the forwards and tried to find space behind the home defence. LaLiga records in its match chronology that Alexis Sánchez had a very good chance from close range in the 44th minute, but goalkeeper Ionuț Radu saved his shot. Shortly before that, Isaac Romero tried from distance, and several minutes earlier Peque Fernández missed after a move down the right side. Those attempts showed that Sevilla, although relieved in terms of the season's results, had not come merely to complete the final 90 minutes.
Celta created the key pressure immediately after the break. In the 49th minute, Fer López failed to score from a promising position, and a minute later Sergio Carreira hit the post with a shot from outside the penalty area. That short surge from the home side was the introduction to the decisive moment of the match. After Lucien Agoumé's foul on the left side, Celta won a set piece from which Fer López prepared the ball for Ilaix Moriba. The midfielder scored in the 51st minute with his right foot into the upper left corner of Sevilla's goal, and LaLiga's official match report lists that goal as a shot from outside the penalty area after a set piece.
Moriba's goal changed the dynamic of the match. The home side no longer had to force a high rhythm, but could choose more carefully when to move forward. Sevilla made a triple substitution in the 64th minute, with Rubén Vargas, Neal Maupay and Akor Adams coming on, as the visiting coach tried to increase the intensity in attack and refresh the closing phase. Celta responded by introducing Hugo Álvarez and Ferran Jutglà, and later Pablo Durán, Matías Vecino and Óscar Mingueza. The changes further fragmented the play, but did not change the basic balance of power: Sevilla had to chase a goal, and Celta had to avoid a mistake.
Radu preserved the lead in the final stages
The closing phase was the most delicate part of the match for Celta because Sevilla, as the match approached stoppage time, increasingly reached shooting areas. According to LaLiga's official chronology, Nemanja Gudelj shot from outside the penalty area in the 88th minute, and Ionuț Radu saved the effort aimed at the bottom left corner. That moment was one of the most important interventions by the home goalkeeper because it came in a phase of the match in which an equalizer would have significantly changed the mood at Balaídos and created additional nervousness in the final minutes. Radu had earlier also stopped Alexis Sánchez's attempt, so alongside scorer Moriba he was among Celta's most important individuals.
Celta tried in the final minutes to keep the ball as far away from its own goal as possible, but it did not completely give up attempts going forward. Pablo Durán shot from distance in stoppage time, and Ørjan Nyland saved his effort. Still, at that moment the home side did not need a second goal as much as calm defence of the lead. LaLiga records that the match ended 1:0, after five minutes of added time in the second half. There were officially 20,901 spectators in the stands, and the match was refereed by Francisco José Hernández Maeso.
Sevilla ended the duel with several solid attempts, but without enough precision and without the final pressure that would have forced Celta into a complete collapse of its defensive structure. The visitors tried through Sánchez, Romero, Vargas, Gudelj and Maupay, but the home defence, together with Radu, withstood the key situations. In a match in which one goal was enough, Celta showed greater composure in the decisive moments. Sevilla, on the other hand, confirmed a season in which it remained in the middle of the lower part of the table, far from the European ambitions traditionally associated with that club.
A European reward for a season of stability
The victory against Sevilla carried special weight because Celta, according to the final table available after the 38th-round matches, ended the season with 54 points. That left it ahead of Getafe, which finished with 51 points after victory against Osasuna. Such an outcome confirmed that Celta did not depend on additional combinations and that it secured sixth place on the pitch, in front of its own supporters. Mundo Deportivo emphasized that Claudio Giráldez's team confirmed, with the victory, its appearance in the Europa League for the second season in a row, which is an important confirmation of sporting continuity for the club from Vigo.
In the context of LaLiga's closing stages, Celta's result was one of the more important outcomes of the final round. Cadena SER stated in its coverage of the round that the European places and the relegation battle received their final outcome, with Celta and Real Sociedad finishing in the Europa League. The same source states that Getafe earned the Conference League, while Rayo Vallecano could reach an additional European place depending on the outcome of the final against Crystal Palace in Leipzig. Those details show how much the final round was connected by a series of result scenarios, although Celta completed its part of the job without waiting.
For Celta, sixth place is confirmation of work in a season in which the team had enough depth to remain in the upper part of the table. Although it is not a club with the largest budgets in Spanish football, qualification for the Europa League brings sporting prestige, additional revenue and greater visibility on the international stage. At the same time, that result also brings a more demanding calendar next season. The club will have to balance the domestic championship and European obligations, which often requires a deeper squad, more careful rotation and additional discipline in match preparation.
Giráldez's team found balance
Celta played against Sevilla in a 3-4-3 formation, according to LaLiga's official display, with Radu in goal, Marcos Alonso, Yoel Lago and Javi Rodríguez in the back line, and Carreira, Javi Rueda, Moriba and Fer López in midfield. Borja Iglesias, Williot Swedberg and Iago Aspas started in attack. Such an arrangement allowed the home side to have width in the attacking phase, but also enough players to close the middle when Sevilla tried to build through possession. The role of Fer López was especially important, as he participated in creating the goal and often linked midfield with attack.
Moriba's goal was the result of individual quality, but also of a well-prepared situation. After the set piece, Celta had enough players around the ball, and Sevilla failed to close down in time the space from which the midfielder could shoot. Such details often decide low-scoring matches, especially in the final rounds when teams play under result pressure and when every mistake is more costly than usual. For the home side, it was additionally important that the lead came early in the second half, so the rest of the match could be adapted to a rhythm that suited it.
Sevilla, according to LaLiga's official display, started in a 4-3-3 system. In that arrangement it tried to secure width through the wide players and keep three attacking options high, but it did not find a sufficiently clear finish. The changes in the second half brought more freshness, but did not change the result. The visitors had moments in which they could have equalized, especially through Sánchez in the first half and Gudelj in the closing stages, but they lacked more quality in the final pass and composure in the shot.
Sevilla ended the season without a turnaround in Vigo
For Sevilla, the defeat in Vigo meant the end of a season in which the club remained far from the fight for European places. According to the available table after the final round, Sevilla ended the season with 43 points, with a record that placed it in the lower middle part of the standings. Such a position is not dramatic in terms of survival, but for a club that in the previous decade was often a symbol of successful European campaigns, it represents a modest result. The match against Celta summed up part of those problems well: enough competitiveness to stay in the match, but too little efficiency to turn the result around.
Sevilla also had an emotional element in Vigo because Spanish media highlighted César Azpilicueta's farewell to professional football. Mundo Deportivo described the match through that context as well, stating that Celta secured the Europa League in Azpilicueta's final appearance. The experienced defender was part of the visitors' starting line-up and participated in one of the more dangerous actions of the first half, when he crossed for Isaac Romero's headed attempt. But the final result did not allow Sevilla to conclude the season on a positive note.
The 1:0 defeat is not among the heavy result blows, but it confirms that Sevilla must look for a clearer model to return toward the top. In matches decided by small margins, details are decisive, and in Vigo they went in favour of the home side. Celta scored when it needed to, defended the most dangerous attempts and maintained concentration in stoppage time. Sevilla was left without a goal, without points and without a strong final impression.
The final round brought a wider LaLiga outcome
The match between Celta and Sevilla was part of a final round that decided European positions and survival in the league. Cadena SER stated that Mallorca and Girona were relegated to the second division together with Real Oviedo, even though Mallorca beat Oviedo 3:0 and Girona drew 1:1 with Elche. The same review stated that Barcelona, Real Madrid, Villarreal, Atlético Madrid and Real Betis occupied the Champions League places, while Celta and Real Sociedad earned the Europa League. Such an outcome places Celta's victory in the wider context of the final day of the season, in which results were followed simultaneously at several stadiums.
For Celta supporters, however, the most important thing was their own match and the moment when the referee blew the final whistle. The narrow victory against Sevilla was not spectacular in terms of the number of goals, but it carried a clear sporting message. The team from Vigo confirmed that it knows how to play matches in which the pressure is high and the margin for error is small. In such circumstances, a 1:0 win often says more about a team's maturity than more convincing results in matches without competitive stakes.
Celta will therefore remember the final round as the evening in which it defended sixth place and ended the season with a European reward. Sevilla will remember it as another match in which it stayed close, but was not concrete enough. At Balaídos, one precise shot from Ilaix Moriba, one assist from Fer López and several important saves by Ionuț Radu decided the contest. That was enough for Celta to end the season with a victory, and for Vigo to receive confirmation that European football will again be played by the Atlantic coast.
Sources:
- LaLiga – official match report, line-ups, match chronology and data on the Celta Vigo - Sevilla FC match (link)
- Mundo Deportivo – report on Celta's victory, Ilaix Moriba's goal and qualification for the Europa League (link)
- Cadena SER – overview of the outcome of LaLiga's 38th round, European positions and the relegation battle (link)
- Flashscore – confirmation of the result, match date and key events of the encounter (link)