VIGO, Spain, September 19, 2026: Celta Vigo spent six La Liga matches searching for their first victory and scored only three goals along the way. On Saturday night at Balaídos, they scored five in 60 minutes and turned Racing Santander’s difficult week into something far more damaging.
Celta’s 5-0 victory provided the headline from the three completed La Liga matches before Sevilla and Barcelona close Saturday’s program later tonight.
Hugo González converted a first-half penalty, Ilaix Moriba doubled the advantage before the interval, Miguel Román added the third and Pablo Durán scored twice late as Claudio Giráldez’s team finally transformed months of encouraging possession into a decisive league result.
Elsewhere, Ante Budimir produced a memorable milestone goal in Osasuna’s 1-1 draw with Rayo Vallecano, reaching 100 La Liga goals with a superb first-half volley before Sergio Camello equalized after the break.
At San Mamés, Athletic Club attempted 24 shots but could not beat Antonio Sivera. The Alavés goalkeeper’s defining moment came when he saved Oihan Sancet’s penalty as the Basque derby finished 0-0.
Across the three matches, there were seven goals.
Celta scored five of them.
For continuing coverage of Spanish football throughout the season, follow The Sports Encounter’s La Liga hub.
La Liga Saturday Results: September 19, 2026
| Fixture | Result | Key Story |
|---|---|---|
| Osasuna vs Rayo Vallecano | 1-1 | Budimir scores his 100th La Liga goal before Camello equalizes |
| Athletic Club vs Deportivo Alavés | 0-0 | Sivera saves Sancet’s penalty as Athletic fail to convert 24 shots |
| Celta Vigo vs Racing Santander | 5-0 | Celta claim first league victory after scoring five without Iago Aspas |
The official La Liga Osasuna-Rayo match center, Athletic Club’s official Alavés match page and official Celta-Racing fixture center provide the competition and team context for Saturday’s matches.
Celta 5-0 Racing Santander: Six Winless Games Disappear in One Night
Celta entered Matchday 7 with a strange statistical profile.
They had played six league games.
They had drawn four.
They had lost two.
They had won none.
Most revealingly, they had scored only three goals.
That attacking frustration had become the central story of their season.
The Sports Encounter saw it only six days ago when Adrián Niño’s late equalizer denied Celta their first victory against Málaga. Giráldez’s team generated 18 shots in that match but again failed to turn territorial superiority into three points.
Racing experienced a completely different Celta on Saturday.
Hugo González Converts the First Breakthrough
The opening goal arrived in the 32nd minute.
Racing’s André Almeida surrendered possession in a dangerous position and compounded the mistake by conceding the penalty from which Hugo González put Celta ahead.
The goal changed the emotional shape of the match.
For weeks, Celta had been the team trying to force open contests while carrying the pressure of another possible draw.
This time Racing had to chase.
They immediately became more vulnerable.
Ilaix Moriba Punishes Racing Before Halftime
Almeida was involved in Racing’s second major error as well.
Another loss of possession created the opportunity for Ilaix Moriba, who doubled Celta’s lead in the 43rd minute.
A team that had scored only three league goals all season suddenly had two before halftime.
The significance should not be underestimated.
Celta’s earlier results had rarely reflected a complete lack of attacking play.
The problem had been execution.
The Sports Encounter’s analysis of their 0-0 draw at Real Sociedad showed the same pattern from a different angle. Celta survived Sociedad’s 17-shot pressure that night, but their own attacking output remained limited.
Saturday finally broke the pattern.
Three Second-Half Goals Turn Control Into a Rout
Racing attempted to respond after the interval.
Celta did not retreat.
Miguel Román made it 3-0 in the 69th minute.
Then Pablo Durán turned a comfortable victory into a demolition.
He scored in the 78th minute and again in second-half stoppage time to complete the 5-0 scoreline.
| Celta Scorer | Minute |
|---|---|
| Hugo González | 32′ penalty |
| Ilaix Moriba | 43′ |
| Miguel Román | 69′ |
| Pablo Durán | 78′ |
| Pablo Durán | 90+2′ |
Five goals did more than deliver three points.
Celta entered the game with three league goals from six matches.
They left with eight.
One match therefore produced more goals than their entire previous La Liga season combined.
Celta Do It Without Iago Aspas
The performance becomes more interesting because Iago Aspas was unavailable through injury.
Celta confirmed before the match that their captain would miss the Racing fixture.
That removed the player most closely associated with their attacking identity for more than a decade.
The response came from elsewhere.
González scored.
Moriba scored.
Román scored.
Durán scored twice.
For Giráldez, that distribution may matter almost as much as the five-goal margin.
Celta have spent years depending heavily on Aspas for both creation and finishing. A match in which four different players score without him offers evidence that their attack can develop additional reference points.
Earlier in the season, Aspas had scored against Osasuna before Marcos Alonso’s red card changed the match and Celta lost 2-1. The Sports Encounter examined that turning point in our combined Barcelona-Athletic and Celta-Osasuna report.
Saturday’s story was the opposite.
Celta did not require their captain to rescue them.
Racing Santander Have Conceded 12 Goals in Four Days
Racing’s problem is becoming much harder to explain as one poor night.
On Wednesday, Barcelona beat them 7-2 at the Camp Nou.
The Sports Encounter’s full report on Raphinha’s hat-trick showed how Racing conceded 29 shots, 18 corners and long periods of territorial pressure.
Three days later, Celta scored five.
That means Racing have conceded 12 goals across consecutive league games.
It is an alarming sequence for a promoted side that had actually shown promising attacking signs earlier in the campaign.
Racing had beaten Alavés and had scored twice even during the Barcelona rout.
The current problem is not simply that opponents are stronger.
It is that defensive mistakes are giving those opponents opportunities that require very little construction.
Osasuna 1-1 Rayo Vallecano: Budimir Joins La Liga’s 100-Goal Club
Before Celta turned the evening into a rout, El Sadar produced Saturday’s most important individual milestone.
Ante Budimir opened the scoring for Osasuna in the 16th minute.
It was not an ordinary goal.
The Croatian striker met the ball inside the area and produced a superb volley that left Rayo goalkeeper Emil Audero with little chance.
It was Budimir’s 100th goal in La Liga.
The landmark arrives during a difficult period for Osasuna.
They had lost three consecutive league matches before Saturday, including a 4-0 defeat at Atlético Madrid that The Sports Encounter analyzed in our report on Jonathan David’s first league start for Atlético.
Budimir’s goal therefore offered both historical significance and immediate relief.
Osasuna could not protect it.
Sergio Camello Responds After Halftime
Rayo had controlled more of the first half than the score suggested.
The visitors carried more possession and attempted more shots, but Budimir’s efficiency had placed Osasuna ahead.
The equalizer arrived soon after the restart.
Adrià Pedrosa supplied the pass and Sergio Camello converted in the 50th minute to make it 1-1.
Camello’s goal continued an excellent start to his individual season.
He had already scored twice against Barcelona in Rayo’s 5-2 defeat at Camp Nou, a performance examined in The Sports Encounter’s Barcelona-Rayo analysis.
Saturday brought another important finish.
Rayo Control More of the Ball, Osasuna Take the Milestone
The draw reflected the contrasting strengths of the teams.
Rayo finished with approximately 64 percent possession and 17 attempts.
Osasuna were less dominant territorially but created the game’s defining first-half moment through Budimir.
Both teams move onto eight points.
For Osasuna, the draw ends a three-match losing streak but extends their winless run to four league games.
For Rayo, it provides another useful result away from home and continues a season in which their attack has often looked more dangerous than the defensive record suggests.
The broader Matchday 4 picture already demonstrated both teams’ volatility. The Sports Encounter’s La Liga Matchday 4 review included Rayo’s 3-2 win over Racing and Osasuna’s 5-2 defeat at Alavés.
Neither team has settled into a predictable pattern since.
Why Budimir’s 100 La Liga Goals Matter
One hundred league goals in Spain is a significant threshold for any striker.
For Budimir, the achievement reflects longevity more than one explosive peak.
He has scored in different tactical environments, for teams with different attacking ceilings, and has remained productive well into his thirties.
His Osasuna role is particularly demanding.
The club do not create the volume of chances available to forwards at Barcelona or Real Madrid.
Budimir has therefore built much of his career around timing, positioning, aerial strength and efficiency inside the box.
The 100th goal was fittingly different.
It was technically ambitious.
A clean volley.
A milestone delivered with style.
Athletic Club 0-0 Alavés: Twenty-Four Shots, No Goal
If Celta’s night demonstrated what happens when chances finally turn into goals, Athletic Club supplied the opposite example.
Edin Terzić’s side dominated the Basque derby at San Mamés.
They controlled around 69 percent possession.
They attempted 24 shots.
They repeatedly pushed Alavés backward.
They still finished with zero goals.
The clearest opportunity arrived from the penalty spot.
Sivera Saves Sancet’s Penalty
Nico Williams drew the penalty after being brought down by Nahuel Tenaglia.
Oihan Sancet stepped forward.
Antonio Sivera read the attempt.
The Alavés goalkeeper went down and stopped a low penalty that lacked the power required to beat him.
It became the decisive moment of the derby.
Athletic continued attacking afterward but could not find a way past either Sivera or the defensive block in front of him.
The frustration extended an uneven opening to Athletic’s campaign.
They had already been beaten 2-0 by Barcelona before producing an impressive 3-0 victory over Atlético Madrid.
The Sports Encounter’s report on Athletic’s postponed Levante fixture examined why the early table has been particularly difficult to interpret because of their disrupted schedule.
Saturday added another complication.
Athletic now have eight points from six matches rather than seven because of the postponed game.
Alavés Show Why Their Start Has Been So Difficult to Dismiss
Alavés arrived at San Mamés with 10 points from six league matches.
They leave with 11.
They did not dominate.
They did not need to.
Quique Sánchez Flores’ side defended the box, trusted Sivera and survived Athletic’s attacking volume.
That is a different kind of strength from the one Alavés showed when they beat Osasuna 5-2 earlier this month.
The Sports Encounter’s Matchday 4 review highlighted Lucas Boyé’s hat-trick in that match.
Saturday required resilience instead of attacking fluency.
Alavés found that too.
Saturday’s Three Matches Produced Three Completely Different Stories
| Match | Underlying Story |
|---|---|
| Celta 5-0 Racing | A previously struggling attack finally explodes |
| Osasuna 1-1 Rayo | A historic individual milestone cannot deliver three points |
| Athletic 0-0 Alavés | Territorial domination means nothing without finishing |
That contrast is what makes the three-match consolidated report more useful than treating them as isolated scores.
Celta created a result far larger than anything their previous six games predicted.
Osasuna found the striker’s moment they needed but not the defensive control to preserve it.
Athletic created almost everything except the one thing that counts.
A goal.
Celta’s Five Goals Change the Bottom-Half Picture
Celta entered the day with four points.
Their first victory moves them to seven.
That matters because early-season tables can distort quickly when teams accumulate draws without wins.
A single victory transforms the arithmetic.
It also transforms confidence.
The Sports Encounter’s opening-weekend La Liga review began with Celta drawing 0-0 at Valencia.
Since then, Giráldez’s side have repeatedly looked competitive without finding enough decisive moments.
Saturday finally supplied them in bulk.
Racing Need the International Break More Than Most
Twelve goals conceded across two matches will dominate any defensive review.
The details make the concern worse.
Barcelona overwhelmed Racing through sustained superiority.
Celta punished individual errors.
Those are different problems.
The first asks whether Racing can survive against elite attacking quality.
The second asks whether they can stop defeating themselves against teams much closer to their own level.
A promoted team can accept that Barcelona might score heavily.
Conceding five to a previously winless Celta side creates a much less comfortable conversation.
The Wider La Liga Round Remains Unfinished
These three results complete the early Saturday program.
Barcelona’s visit to Sevilla later tonight deserves separate treatment because of the title-race implications and the extraordinary form Hansi Flick’s team bring into the Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán.
Barcelona arrive after winning six league games from six and scoring 28 goals, including the seven against Racing.
The Sports Encounter will cover that match separately rather than allowing the biggest fixture of the night to disappear inside a consolidated report.
Recent La Liga coverage also includes Elche’s impressive 3-1 win at Espanyol despite playing much of the match with 10 men and Villarreal’s 3-1 comeback at Málaga.
La Liga September 19 FAQs
What were the completed La Liga results on September 19 before Sevilla vs Barcelona?
Osasuna drew 1-1 with Rayo Vallecano, Athletic Club drew 0-0 with Deportivo Alavés and Celta Vigo beat Racing Santander 5-0.
Who scored for Celta against Racing Santander?
Hugo González, Ilaix Moriba, Miguel Román and Pablo Durán scored. Durán scored twice.
Was Celta’s 5-0 win their first La Liga victory of the season?
Yes. Celta entered Matchday 7 with four draws, two defeats and no league wins.
How many goals had Celta scored before the Racing match?
Celta had scored only three league goals in their opening six matches before scoring five against Racing.
Did Iago Aspas play against Racing Santander?
No. Celta confirmed before the match that Aspas was unavailable through injury.
How many goals have Racing conceded in their last two La Liga matches?
Racing have conceded 12. Barcelona beat them 7-2 before Celta won 5-0.
Who scored Osasuna’s goal against Rayo?
Ante Budimir scored with a first-half volley.
What milestone did Ante Budimir reach?
Budimir’s goal was the 100th of his La Liga career.
Who equalized for Rayo Vallecano?
Sergio Camello equalized early in the second half.
What happened in Athletic Club vs Alavés?
The Basque derby finished 0-0 despite Athletic attempting 24 shots and controlling most of the possession.
Who saved Athletic’s penalty?
Alavés goalkeeper Antonio Sivera saved Oihan Sancet’s second-half penalty.
How many points do Celta have after their first win?
Celta move from four points to seven after beating Racing.
Will The Sports Encounter cover Sevilla vs Barcelona separately?
Yes. The final La Liga match of Saturday carries enough title-race and individual significance to warrant its own match report.