Brugué's header at Balaídos pulls Levante out of the relegation zone for the first time in 24 matchdays
Levante stunned Celta Vigo 3-2 at Balaídos on Tuesday, fighting back from an early goal down to climb out of the La Liga relegation zone for the first time in 24 matchdays. Roger Brugué's 63rd-minute header sealed a comeback that started before half-time and shifted the survival picture two rounds from the end of the season.
Jutglà brace gives Celta the lead twice, Levante refuse to fold
Ferran Jutglà needed barely four minutes to put Celta in front, taking a slipped pass from Hugo Álvarez and drilling a low finish into the bottom corner. Balaídos braced for another comfortable home performance from a team that has scored 19 goals across their last eight league games at the ground.
Levante had other ideas. Kervin Arriaga finished off a Jeremy Toljan cross in the 43rd minute, sweeping a right-footed effort into the net to drag the visitors level on the stroke of the interval. The momentum lasted barely three minutes after the restart: a Javier Rueda delivery picked out Jutglà again, and the Catalan striker turned in his second of the night on 48 minutes to restore Celta's lead.
The pattern repeated. Adrián de la Fuente equalised on 57 minutes, then six minutes later Jon Ander Olasagasti whipped in a cross from the right and Brugué climbed at the back post to head Levante in front. The winger also rattled the woodwork later in the game, but it was the headed finish that ended up changing Levante's season.
Luis Castro's Levante are out of the bottom three at last
The win moves Luis Castro's side to 39 points and up to 16th, lifting them clear of the bottom three on points. It is the first time Levante have been outside the relegation places in 24 matchdays. Counting only the games Castro has overseen in 2026, his record would place Levante sixth in the table.
Celta, meanwhile, have stopped winning at home just as the European race threatened to turn in their favour. Claudio Giráldez's side stay sixth and remain in the conversation for a continental spot, but a home defeat of this shape hands the chasing pack a way back in. The Metropolitano win at Atlético three days earlier had looked like the launchpad for a strong finish; Tuesday's defeat at Balaídos narrowed the margin for error before the closing two rounds.
What it means with two matchdays left
Survival in La Liga rarely comes down to one game, but Levante's win has the look of one. The relegation race now narrows to the bottom three on points, and Castro's side suddenly have momentum and a goal-difference cushion that did not exist a week ago. Real Oviedo's relegation was already confirmed on the previous matchday by Girona's last-gasp draw at Vallecas.
For Celta, the read is simpler. A repeat of the run-in form they have managed for most of 2026 should be enough to keep them in or close to the European places. The home defeat to Levante does not change that on its own, but it puts the pressure back on the closing two fixtures and ends a stretch in which Balaídos had become one of the most reliable home grounds in Spain.
Related Tags:
Cricket Updates
