Borja Iglesias will lead Celta Vigo when they host Levante at Balaidos on Tuesday in a match that could shape both clubs’ final weeks of the La Liga season.
Celta arrive in form and high on confidence after a 1-0 victory at Atletico Madrid on Saturday, a win decided by Iglesias’s chipped finish, and a 3-1 home win against Elche earlier in the week. The victory at the Wanda Metropolitano was Celta’s latest result as they sit sixth after 35 matches with 13 wins, 11 draws and 11 losses, four points adrift of fifth-placed Real Betis with three fixtures to play.
Iglesias has been central to Celta’s push: he has 14 La Liga goals this season, has scored in Celta’s previous three league matches and has eight of those strikes at Balaidos. He also has two goals in seven career appearances against Levante, and he came to Balaidos with the chance to score in four successive league matches for the second time this season.
Ben Sully summed up the stakes plainly: "Celta Vigo will continue their pursuit of Champions League football when they welcome Levante to Balaidos on Tuesday." Sully also noted the home form problem, saying "they head into matchday 36 with the second-worst home record in the top flight after mustering 20 points from their 17 La Liga outings at Balaidos." That fragility at home is the blunt number that complicates Celta’s run-in.
Levante arrive two points from safety and desperate for momentum after a dramatic 3-2 win over Osasuna on Friday. The visitors overturned a game that featured an early own goal and an Ante Budimir strike, Victor Garcia produced a two-minute brace, and Karl Etta Eyong struck the winner in the 90th minute. The match also saw Osasuna goalkeeper Sergio Herrera sent off before half time for deliberately handling the ball outside his box.
The matchup carries contradictions. Levante have been resilient at the Estadi Cuitat de Valencia, unbeaten in six there, yet they have taken only two points from their last seven away matches. They have failed to win any of their last five matches against Celta, but they have avoided defeat in three of their previous four visits to Balaidos. Celta’s recent head-to-head edge includes a 2-1 win in November when Miguel Roman produced a stoppage-time winner — a player who is now sidelined by injury, along with Carl Starfelt and Matias Vecino.
The game also has practical details that underline its profile: it is listed for 18:00 BST on Premier Sports 1 and bookmakers make Celta 4/5 favourites, with the draw at 11/4 and Levante 16/5 to prevail. For Levante, the three points from Osasuna offer a psychological lift; for Celta, the Atletico win and Iglesias’s run supply a tangible scoring threat that others on the pitch must now cover for.
Given the facts, Celta are the likeliest side to take a step toward European qualification — their recent wins, Iglesias’s finishing and their place in the table argue that — but Balaidos remains a weak spot and Levante’s late-match resilience means this is unlikely to be straightforward. In short: the form book and the odds favour Celta, but Levante’s recent survival fight and Celta’s injury list leave the outcome hanging until the final whistle in this celta vs levante tie.
