Celta Vigo 1-1 Real Betis Player Ratings: Hugo Alvarez Rated 7.5/10 As Both Teams Share Points After an Intriguing Outing

Celta Vigo locked horns with Real Betis on matchday 3 of the La Liga EA Sports 2025/26 season, on 27th August, 2025, at 9:00 PM (GMT), at the Balaidos stadium in Vigo. Celta Vigo were coming off a draw against Mallorca in their previous game, while the visitors looked to build upon their victory against Alaves in their last game.

The game opened with Real Betis maintaining most of the possession, while Celta Vigo were happy to sit back and defend and wait for an opportunity on the counter. Celta Vigo did get their opening when Williot Swedberg was through on goal, but Alvaro Valles, who was playing his first match in 15 months, showed excellent anticipation and came out of his line swiftly to clear the ball away just outside of the Betis penalty box. In the 17th minute, Javi Rodriguez got a free header, but he put it wide off the post, without troubling Valles much. Real Betis kept pushing and finally found an opening when Cucho Hernandez put Giovani Lo Celso through on goal, but Ionut Radu was quick to come off his line and parry it away. However, the ball fell nicely for Ricardo Riquelme, who kept his shot on goal, but his effort was cleared off the line brilliantly by Mihailo Ristic in the 37th minute. Betis finally broke the deadlock in the 45th minute, as Marc Bartra headed in a corner from Giovani Lo Celso to put the Beticos in the lead before the halftime whistle.

In the second half, Celta Vigo started strongly as they got a goal back through Hugo Alvarez, who hit a sweet volley through Alvaro Valles' legs to equalize for the home team in the 47th minute. It was Valles who cleared the corner but couldn't close his legs in time as he conceded a disastrous goal. Celta showed signs of improvement, but the majority of the possession was still held by Betis. Both teams pushed really hard to get the winner, but neither of them seemed to find the magic needed in the final third. Iago Aspas got a free header in the box in the 82nd minute, but Valles dove to his right and made a crucial save to keep the score level. Here are the Celta Vigo vs Real Betis Player Ratings.

Celta Vigo Player Ratings

Here are Sportsdunia's Celta Vigo player ratings.

Goalkeeper:

Ionut Radu - 5.5/10

Didn't have much to do in the first half. Radu was decent with his distribution too. The Romanian should have done better to save Marc Bartra's header in the 45th minute.

Defenders:

Javi Rodriguez - 6.5/10

The young centre back was quite solid defensively, as he covered the spaces well and made important interceptions in and around the danger areas.

Yoel Lago - 6/10

Yoel Lago played at the heart of the defense and put in a good shift. The 21-year-old defender held the defensive line quite well and didn't shy away from contesting duels in important areas of the pitch.

Mihailo Ristic - 6.5/10

Ristic held his ground well and tracked the runs of Cucho Hernandez and Aitor Ruibal from time to time. He was good with the ball at his feet and played a few line-breaking passes, which were quite exquisite.

Midfielders:

Oscar Mingueza - 5.5/10

Oscar Mingueza was decent in the defensive transitions, as he kept the likes of Ricardo Riquelme in check. Offensively, he did put in a couple of overlapping runs at times, providing the required width to Celta Vigo. Should have marked Bartra tighter in the buildup to Betis' goal in the first half.

Hugo Sotelo - 6.5/10

Sotelo was tasked with controlling the tempo of the game for Celta and did a fair job. He was instrumental in making a lot of interceptions in the middle of the park and also regulated the flow of play quite well.

Ilaix Moriba - 6/10

The former Barcelona player, Ilaix Moriba, used his physicality quite well in the middle to thwart the opposition and covered the spaces quite well. He too made a lot of interceptions, which stopped Betis' counter attacks before they could prove to be fruitful.

Hugo Alvarez - 7.5/10

Hugo Alvarez was quite lively on the left-hand side, moving up and down continuously through the entire left flank. He made quite a few darting runs into the danger areas and provided some neat low crosses into the box. Defensively, he was sound too. Scored with a volley from outside the box through Valles' legs to equalize for his team.

Pablo Duran - 6.5/10

Pablo Duran got into good positions in and around the Real Betis penalty box with swift twists and turns. He played a few incisive passes to Borja Iglesias, but the forward was unable to make the most out of them.

Williot Swedberg - 6/10

Swedberg was on point with his passing and won a good number of duels despite being higher up the pitch, which speaks volumes about his work-rate.

Forwards:

Borja Iglesias - 5/10

Borja Iglesias made some good off-the-ball runs after shrugging off his marker to get into the box. He did drop at times to combine with the midfielders and make that extra man in midfield for Duran and Swedberg to run into the empty spaces.

Substitutes:

Javi Rueda - 6/10

Marcos Alonso - 6/10

Ferran Jutgla - 6/10

Bryan Zaragoza - 5/10

Iago Aspas - 5/10

Manager:

Claudio Giraldez - 6/10

Claudio Giraldez fielded a 3-4-2-1 formation, which shifted to 5-4-1 during defensive transitions. His team saw very little of the ball and were happy to defend in their own half. They looked for opportunities on the counters but failed to make the most out of their chances.

Real Betis Player Ratings

Here are Sportsdunia's Real Betis player ratings.

Goalkeeper:

Alvaro Valles - 6/10

The goalkeeper was making his return to professional football after a long wait of 15 months due to injury and was quite good with his outing. However, Valles should have done better to keep out Hugo Alvarez's effort early in the second half, as it went straight through his legs.

Defenders:

Hector Bellerin - 5.5/10

Bellerin put in an okayish shift defensively, clearing a few dangerous balls and making lots of interceptions in and around the danger areas.

Marc Bartra - 7/10

The former Barcelona defender, Marc Bartra, was rock solid at the back and cleared a good number of Celta crosses. It was his header in the 45th minute that put Real Betis into the lead.

Natan - 6.5/10

Natan put in a few good tackles in and around the Betis penalty box and was quite successful in clearing the impending danger.

Ricardo Rodriguez - 6/10

Rodriguez did make a few forward runs but was unable to put in good balls into the box. Defensively, he had a decent game too.

Midfielders:

Sergi Altimira - 6.5/10

Sergi Altimira played well in the no. 6 position, as he controlled the tempo of the game quite well for Betis and helped keep the possession for the visitors. He covered the spaces well and played quite a few incisive passes into the final third.

Pablo Fornals - 6.5/10

Fornals worked hard to cut the passing lanes and won a good number of duels in the middle of the park to break the Celta attacks, which could have proved to be dangerous.

Aitor Ruibal - 5/10

Ruibal looked a bit sluggish as he lost possession quite a few times in good areas of the pitch. He was kept at bay by the likes of Hugo Alvarez and struggled to get past the 22-year-old on numerous occasions.

Giovani Lo Celso - 7/10

Giovani Lo Celso was good on the ball, made some good off-the-ball runs too, and took great positions in and around the Celta penalty box. The Argentine played quite a few neat balls for Cucho Hernandez to chase and was instrumental in assisting Marc Bartra from the corner.

Rodrigo Riquelme - 6/10

Riquelme was quite lively on the left flank, making darting runs with the ball and giving Oscar Mingueza a bit of a hard time while defending. He was unlucky to see his shot saved off the line in the first half.

Forwards:

Cucho Hernandez - 5/10

The Colombian international looked so out of the game. Hernandez tried to get in behind the Celta defense with incisive runs and took a few shots too, the majority of which were off target.

Substitutes:

Pablo Garcia - 6/10

Ezequiel Avila - 5/10

Cedric Bakambu - 5/10

Valentin Gomez - 5/10

Manager:

Manuel Pellegrini - 6/10

Pellegrini fielded a 4-2-3-1 formation with Cucho Hernandez as the lone striker, and Giovani Lo Celso was deputed with the no. 10 role. His team pressed quite well and kept the ball for most of the time in the game. His players were on point with their passing and created a good number of goal-scoring chances.

Sportsdunia Player of the Match: Hugo Alvarez