Claudio Giráldez: Celta questions the two-week break with nine matches

Claudio Giráldez, head coach of Celta Vigo, isn’t sold on the two-week break and is already looking at the restart with a tough run of fixtures: nine matches in four weeks. He says they would have preferred to keep going after a “convincing home win,” but injuries—both at the club and affecting players called up with their national teams—forced changes, alongside recoveries.

Iago Aspas returns to the squad, and Giráldez also points to Aleix Febas’ comeback and Ilaix Moriba’s readiness, noting Moriba was among the first to rejoin after international duty. He adds that Burcio has been training well with the group, and that if needed, Antañón—or a tweak to the system—could be an option in the near term.

With so many games stacked together, he stresses planning beyond the next match is limited: “we’ll see tomorrow” whether they can carry on the momentum they wanted, starting with the Racing de Santander game. Against Elche, Giráldez expects a tactical, “rich” match, praising their playing identity, Anselmi’s defensive positioning tweaks and their defensive variability.