Real Madrid were left with two points at Vallecas, a pitch that doesn’t suit them well in a game in which they started well and then faded little by little, allowing Rayo to equalize and re-enter the match. The whites noticed the tiredness of the German game and their second half was very weak. The tie leaves Barcelona with eight points and today Girona can stay with three.
Ancelotti brought out the more or less expected team, with four changes compared to Leipzig’s eleven. According to the line-up, it was clear that Lunin will be the goalkeeper for the rest of the season, that Tchouaméni will play in the center when Rüdiger is not there and that Brahim is the replacement for the injured Bellingham. The only somewhat surprising bet of the Italian coach was to play with Joselu as a companion to Vinícius instead of the usual Rodrygo, an idea that expected a close game with many crosses in the pot.
However, the match turned for Madrid very early on. In the third minute, a counter by Brahim caught Rayo in a bad position and allowed the Málaga player to cross into the area, which Joselu closed with an unappealable header.
During the first quarter of an hour, the whites dominated to their heart’s content, but could not find a way to close the match. In the 19th there was another very similar goal, this time with a cross from Lucas Vázquez and another header from the Galician striker. The VAR intervened to cancel the goal, because the ball had left the end line before the cross.
Due to a certain indolence of Madrid, which lacked the predatory instinct of other days, the Lightning of all life appeared. The Vallecas team, after a terrible streak that brought them close to relegation, sacked Francisco this week to give the bench to Iñigo Pérez, an assistant to Andoni Iraola. The team met again in the middle of the first half, with the stadium very angry at the time against its president, Raúl Martín Presa, with shouts and banners against a possible transfer of Rayo to another area of ??Madrid , as pointed out by the president of the Community, Isabel Díaz Ayuso.
Then came the Rayo of a lifetime: a fighting team that is uncomfortable against the greats in their field, that doesn’t have much, but that knows very well how to play and that what it does, it does well.
The key play came in the 24th in a shot by Trejo that went into the corner. The VAR intervened again and warned that the ball had touched Camavinga’s arm. After several minutes of consultation, Muñiz Ruiz whistled a penalty, which Raúl de Tomás converted into his first goal of the season.
From this goal until the break, the game was controlled, without a clear dominator. Modric, substitute for Kroos, was not able to control the game and in that disorientation anything could happen. Fede Valverde was able to score with a shot that hit the post, but Rayo were also able to make it 2-1 with a shot by Álvaro García to which Lunin responded with a great save, his only intervention in the first half.
The second half started with a serious mistake by Tchouaméni, who made a mess in the area by removing the ball and losing it to Alvaro García, who finished, but the Frenchman was able to intervene and avoid another problem serious
As expected, Madrid took command immediately and chained chances: including a high shot by Brahim in a good position or a header by Tchouaméni after a corner. Joselu lost the easiest of all, with a loose and centered finish because he put it in very poorly.
Ancelotti refreshed the team with Toni Kroos for Camavinga and Rodrygo for Brahim. Madrid were looking for more finesse in the center of the field, because they did not quite develop the game well and Rayo played more and more calmly.
Kroos had the winner from a free-kick well saved by Dmitrisevski. Madrid scored in the final minutes, but Rayo closed well and did not suffer much. Carvajal entered the field and saw two yellow cards in quick succession, the last in added time. The tie is a treasure for Vallecas. The whites left enraged.
