Rayo Vallecano won the match played in the 24th round of the Spanish championship, with a score of no-show, 3-0, against Atletico Madrid, in a match that took place at the “Estadio Ontime Butarque”, the arena of Leganes. Fran Perez, Oscar Valentin and Nobel Mendy scored for the team trained by Inigo Perez, and the success recorded represents the first victory in the company of “los colchoneros”, in LaLiga, for more than 13 years.
The 24th round of LaLiga offers a new Madrid derby, and Rayo Vallecano and Atletico Madrid will duel at the “Estadio Ontime Butarque”. The reason why this match will be played at the Leganés arena is that the condition of the turf at the Vallecas stadium is precarious, and the organizers have decided that the safety of the players could have been put at risk.
In fact, the students trained by Iñigo Pérez currently occupy the first relegation-proof place in the general classification, with a total of 22 points, but, in the event of achieving success this afternoon, the Vallecas team could temporarily surpass Valencia and Real Mallorca. In the opposing camp, the situation is different, because the “rojiblancos” team is in third place in the current hierarchy, trying to widen the gap to Villareal, a team with which Atletico Madrid is currently on equal points.
The home coach will be without Pep Chavarría and Pathe Cisse, who are suspended, and Luiz Felipe and Diego Méndez, who are injured, while Diego Simeone will be without Spanish central midfielder Pablo Barrios. Rayo Vallecano last played in an official match at the Bernabéu against Real Madrid, losing in the 100th minute when Kylian Mbappe scored from the penalty spot.
“Los colchoneros” suffered a setback in the previous round of the domestic competition, at home to Real Betis, but last week’s emphatic victory in the semi-final of the “Copa del Rey” against Barcelona will provide a boost to Atletico Madrid’s morale. Rayo Vallecano have not beaten the team from the “Estadio Metropolitano” in the league since 2013, but “los colchoneros” have only managed one win in the last five Madrid derbies that have taken place away from home.
In the round of the current LaLiga season, Atletico Madrid narrowly won, with a final score of 3-2, with Julian Álvarez securing the three points for the hosts in a duel in which the Argentine striker would score a hat-trick. Alvaro Garcia was Rayo Vallecano’s main offensive weapon in this clash, the Spanish striker coming on after the goal scored at the “Bernabeu” against Real Madrid, and in two of the last three direct matches that were played in the company of the “rojiblancos”, the “franjirrojos” player managed to score.
On the other side, Alexander Sorloth would face an opponent against whom he had managed to score seven times in his career in as many matches as he had been involved. The first dangerous phase of this encounter occurred in the seventh minute, when Matteo Ruggeri crossed to the far post, where Augusto Batalla boxed the ball, close to Alexander Sorloth, who was preparing to head it. A huge chance to score came for Atletico Madrid a few moments later, when Nahuel Molina’s cross was acrobatically intercepted by Nicolas Gonzalez, but the ball hit the crossbar.
The hosts’ first shot came from a set piece from the edge of the field, with Gerard Gumbau volleying a powerful shot towards the far post, but the Rayo Vallecano central midfielder’s shot was saved by Jan Oblak. Alex Baena tried his luck midway through the first half, when the visitors’ striker fired a shot from the edge of the penalty area, but his shot went just over the bar, which was saved by the Argentine goalkeeper of the Vallecas team.
A goal-scoring opportunity arose in the 31st minute of the match at the “Estadio Municipal de Butarque”, when Fran Perez recovered a ball from Rodrigo Mendoza’s side, and then his shot towards the far corner was blocked by Jan Oblak. A successful combination between Andrei Rațiu, Ilias Akhomach and Isi Palason left the Moroccan footballer alone with the Slovenian goalkeeper of Atletico Madrid, and after he dribbled past Jan Oblak, his execution was cleared off the goal line by Nahuel Molina.
At the other goal, Nicolas Gonzalez reached a pass received from Nahuel Molina, but the Argentine footballer’s return, from a half-scissors, far exceeded the space of the Rayo Vallecano goal. The opening of the score in this meeting had Andrei Rațiu in the foreground, the Romanian international managing several dribbles in front of Matteo Ruggeri that unbalanced the Italian full-back. The cross coming down the ground from the right full-back of the Vallecas team was returned into the goal, from the first, by Fran Perez.
The hosts’ second goal came a minute before the end of the first half, when Clement Lenglet completely misplaced a pass in the build-up play, and Ilias Akhomach recovered the ball. The latter passed to Isi Palason, who was free in the box, whose shot was blocked by Jan Oblak, but the ball ended up on the boot of Oscar Valentin, who completed a simple formality and shook the net of the “rojiblancos” goal. The second act of the match began with a free kick executed from approximately 25 meters by Florian Lejeune, but Jan Oblak was on the post and retained the ball.
Nicolas Gonzalez was one step away from reducing the difference, at the end of an action that was initiated by Thiago Almada, but the execution of the Argentinean player of the guests was rejected from the short corner by Augusto Batalla. The third success of the Vallecas group came after a cross that was thrown into the visitors’ box, where Nobel Mendy took it unstoppably and increased the difference on the scoreboard.
The triumph recorded at the Leganes stadium was a historic one for Rayo Vallecano, because the team trained by Inigo Perez managed to defeat Atletico Madrid in the championship for the first time since 2013. The Vallecas team climbed, for the moment, to 16th place in the general hierarchy, while the “rojiblancos” team dropped one position, to fourth, and could lose contact with the podium, depending on the result that Villareal will obtain in this round. In the next round, Rayo Vallecano will play against Real Betis, away, while Atletico Madrid will play in the company of Espanyol in the domestic championship.