MADRID: Vincius Junior sent his low shot into the net and rushed to the sidelines, jumping over the barrier and going into the stands to be quickly engulfed by Real Madrid fans.

It was a scene that wouldn’t have been possible during the last 18 months.

With goals by Vincius and debutant Eduardo Camavinga and a hat-trick by Karim Benzema, Real twice came from behind before comfortably beating Celta Vigo 5-2 in La Liga on Sunday. The game marked Real’s return to the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium more than 18 months after it was closed because of the coronavirus pandemic and a massive renovation project.

“It was a special night for us,” Benzema said. “I always say that we need the support of the fans and today they gave all they had to help us again.”

The remodeling of the Bernabeu is not expected to finish until 2022 but the stadium reopened to a limited crowd of 19,874 in the first match at the venue since March 1, 2020, when Real defeated Barcelona 2-0 with Zinedine Zidane still as their coach.

Defending champions Atletico Madrid earlier also needed to rally to avoid a disappointing result in a milestone match, scoring two late goals to beat Espanyol 2-1 in Antoine Griezmann’s first game back since a stint with Barcelona.

Benzema twice had to pull Real level after Santi Mina and Franco Cervi each put Celta ahead, goals that were greeted with whistles inside the Bernabeu.

But Benzema kept his team in it and Real motored in the second half, Vinicius Junior finishing after racing onto the France forward’s through-ball before Eduardo Camavinga marked his debut by tapping into an open net.

Benzema completed his hat-trick by converting a penalty in the 87th minute, to make it five goals and two assists from his opening four games this season.

“The team has a lot of quality offensively, that’s clear,” said coach Carlo Ancelotti. “What wasn’t so clear was the defensive organisation, which has to improve.”

Griezmann’s return was less impressive, his first game for Atletico in two years and four months coming against Espanyol, who sank to defeat after a 99th-minute winner from Thomas Lemar. Griezmann had gone off in the 58th minute with his team trailing.

Valencia sit level with Atletico and Real Madrid on 10 points after they continued their strong start under new coach Jose Bordelas with a 4-1 win away at Osasuna.

Real Sociedad picked up their third consecutive victory with a 2-0 win at Cadiz thanks to late goals by Mikel Oyarzabal.

Published in Dawn, September 14th, 2021