Claudio Giráldez Positional Play Tactics Revitalising Celta Vigo 2024/25 – Tactical Analysis

Celta Vigo is a very traditional club in Galicia, the north-west of Spain.

In 2023, the club celebrated its 100th anniversary, marking a century of existence and solidifying its status as a staple in Spanish football.

However, they never won any major trophies and were stuck in limbo for most of their existence.

After being relegated in 2007 and spending five harsh years in the depths of Segunda División, including three years in the relegation battle, the club finally secured promotion back to La Liga in 2012.

In the 2013/14 season, a young Luis Enrique coached the team.

This marked the beginning of a highly successful era for the club, as Celta finished in the top half of La Liga for three consecutive years and even reached the UEFA Europa League under the guidance of coach Eduardo Berizzo.

Over the last couple of years, the bad side of Celta Vigo unfortunately regained control.

It has become almost a formality that Los Celestes will be in the relegation battle for most of the season.

However, superstar striker Iago Aspas will likely save them in the last couple of games, and the club will remain in La Liga for one more year.

This has also meant a revolving door for coaches, with the last couple of coaches not lasting longer than a single season with the club.

In March 2024, the club had to fire their manager once again.

This time, it was legendary coach Rafa Benitéz who was unable to achieve much with the squad.

Instead of pursuing another big-name or highly experienced option, Celta Vigo chose to promote the manager of their secondary team to the first team.

Claudio Giráldez has been part of Celta Vigo’s academy since 2020 and previously coached their U19 team before being promoted twice.

With their new head coach, Celta have found a new approach to the game.

They finished last season strong and started this one in the same manner.

In this tactical analysis and team report, we will examine Claudio Giráldezs tactics, how hes succeeded with a struggling team, and what to expect from the club moving forward.

Claudio Giráldez Possession, Domination & Triangles

Claudio Giráldez made a bold choice when he started his first coaching gig in professional football.

He decided to turn his struggling team, which was battling relegation, into a possession-based side.

Although that was not an easy task, the young coach managed to accomplish it.

With 51.7% average possession in La Liga so far this season, Los Celestes rank sixth in the league in that regard.

While that is not a significant amount of possession, it is still an improvement over last season and is comparable to the possession of teams like Real Betis, for example.

Celta are very good at playing with the ball and are currently tied for the best passing rate in the league, meaning that they are playing the most passes per minute of possession.

This shows us that Claudio Giráldezs dominating possession through quick, short passes has been highly effective so far.

When we examine how they achieve this tactical feat, we must mention the great positional play that results in numerous triangles all over the pitch for Celta.

Here, we can see that Celta have already progressed the ball into the opposing half and is now building up their play against a deep block.

Examining how the team moves collectively, we can see that they are forming groups of three, which in turn create triangles.

The triangle a