WITH goals by Vinicius Junior and debutant Eduardo Camavinga and a hat trick by Karim Benzema, Madrid twice came from behind before comfortably beating Celta Vigo 5-2 in the Spanish league Sunday.

The game marked Madrid’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.

Madrid took advantage of the prohibition on spectators in stadiums because of the pandemic to accelerate the construction work at the Bernabeu while it played its home matches at the small Alfredo Di Stefano Stadium in the club’s training complex. It played three straight away matches in the first three rounds this season to get the venue ready for crowds again.

On the field, it was Celta that opened the scoring with Santi Mina finding the net from inside the area after a defensive mistake by Madrid only four minutes into the match.

Benzema equalized with a shot from inside the area after a pass by Federico Valverde, but Celta retook the lead in a breakaway in the 31st with Franco Cervi finding the net from close range.

Benzema had a goal disallowed for offside in the 39th but equalized again with a header at the start of the second half.

(SD-Agencies)