Real Madrid drew 0-0 with Rayo Vallecano in the 12th round of the Spanish championship, in a duel played at the “Estadio Vallecas”, in a tense atmosphere full of pressure from the home crowd. Andrei Rațiu, for the club coached by Inigo Perez, and Federico Valverde, for “los blancos”, respectively, created the most important scoring opportunities, and the final result was also equivalent to the second match in a row without a win for the team trained by Xabi Alonso in all competitions.
Rayo Vallecano hosted Real Madrid in the 12th round of LaLiga, at the “Estadio Vallecas” in the Spanish capital. Before the match, the team coached by Inigo Perez was in 11th place in the general standings with a total of 14 points, while “los blancos” were at the time of this meeting as leaders in the domestic championship, with a total of 30 points collected so far in the current season.
The most recent matches played by the two clubs took place on the continental stage, because the Vallecas team managed an exceptional “comeback” on their home field, in the UEFA Conference League, in the company of the Poles from Lech Poznan, final score 3-2, and the team from the “Santiago Bernabeu” lost, away, at “Anfield”, by the limit, final score 0-1, against Liverpool, in a game in which Thibaut Courtois, thanks to his reflexes, was the only footballer to stand out from the camp prepared on the sidelines by Xabi Alonso.
Rayo Vallecano was going through a positive period before “going head to head” with Real Madrid, because the team for which the Romanian footballer, Andrei Rațiu, among others, plays, recorded six victories, a draw and a defeat in all competitions, and, in front of their own supporters, the Vallecas team ticked, in the most recent five official confrontations, three successes, a draw and a failure.
On the other hand, “los blancos”, away from home, in the current season of the Spanish championship, had obtained four triumphs out of a possible five, the only wrong step being recorded in the city derby, in front of Atletico Madrid, the “galactics” giving in with the final score of 2-5.
Inigo Perez could not rely, at the time of this confrontation, on Luiz Felipe, Diego Mendez, Abdul Mumin and Randy Nteka. The Basque coach of the visiting team did not have at his disposal Daniel Carvajal, Antonio Rudiger, Franco Mastantuono and Aurelien Tchouameni, the last of the mentioned footballers suffering a muscle injury during the confrontation in the most recent stage of the main phase of the UEFA Champions League, and will be unavailable for approximately three weeks.
In the previous LaLiga season, Rayo Vallecano and Real Madrid met twice, and the round of the last edition of the domestic championship, played on the field of the Vallecas team, ended in a draw, with a final score of 3-3, in a match in which the hosts led by two goals, “los blancos” overturned the result on the scoreboard, and Isi Palazon brought a point for the club led from the technical bench by Inigo Perez, former assistant to Andoni Iraola. The return match played at the “Santiago Bernabeu” ended with the success of the hosts, in a match in which Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Junior decided the game.
Before the start of the match, Inigo Perez was awarded the title of “best coach of October in LaLiga”, and the Iberian coach of the hosts showed the trophy on an open stage in front of the fans present at the arena in the capital of Spain. The hosts’ attacking midfielder Alvaro Garcia was also announced via the stadium speakers as Rayo Vallecano’s top scorer in the Spanish top flight.
The first big chance of the game belonged to the visitors, as Federico Valverde’s pass to the edge of the box was met by Arda Guler, and the Turkish midfielder’s long-range shot hit the ground but was blocked by Augusto Batalla, with Andrei Rațiu clearing the danger as he cleared. The Romanian international had a chance to trouble Thibaut Courtois’ goal a few minutes later, but his volley went wide of the target.
Then, the Rayo Vallecano right-back received a filtering pass from Unai Lopez, and Andrei Rațiu quickly passed Alvaro Carreras, but his shot from close range hit Thibaut Courtois, so that the visitors’ defense escaped without a goal from this goal action. Later, Real Madrid missed the opening of the score, when Kylian Mbappe’s cross from inside the penalty area was headed by Jude Bellingham, but the home goalkeeper intervened promptly, and Brahim Diaz shot at an opponent.
The same Brahim Diaz sent a quality cross into the mouth of the home goal, but the English international’s header from the attack of the team led from the sidelines by Xabi Alonso narrowly avoided the space of the opponent’s goal. A new opportunity in this duel was recorded in the 26th minute, when Alvaro Garcia was left alone in the box, after he managed to overcome Dean Huijsen, but the Rayo Vallecano left winger’s finish went wide of the “los blancos” goal.
The second half started for the visitors, and Federico Valverde was the first Real Madrid player to try to open the scoring for his team, but the captain of the team from the “Santiago Bernabeu” sent a free kick well over the crossbar from about 30 meters from a central position. Then, Rayo Vallecano’s reply came, and Pep Chavarria’s cross from the left flank was deflected from the short corner by Isi Palason, but the ball did not find the space of the opponent’s goal.
Arda Guler was one step away from scoring in the goal defended by Augusto Batalla, when the execution launched by the Turkish footballer from over 20 meters away from the home goal went just wide of the right post. A sensational pass sent by Raul Asencio over the Vallecas team’s defense was received by Jude Bellingham, and after making an elegant takeover, the player transferred from Borussia Dortmund tried to finish, from an angle, at the short corner, but the goalkeeper of Rayo Vallecano opposed the attempt.
Kylian Mbappe tried to score, in the 60th minute from near the opponent’s goal, but his execution with his right foot did not find the space of the posts, and the phase ended with a throw-in from the corner of the six-meter box. Isi Palason tried to lob Thibaut Courtois with an execution from the middle of the field, but the ball sent by the hosts’ “seven” fell into the net of the goal defended by the Belgian footballer. Andrei Rațiu was passed near the Real Madrid goal, and the Rayo Vallecano right-back cleared the ball for Unai Lopez to finish, but his shot went over the bar.
Federico Valverde caused problems for Augusto Batalla in the 70th minute of the match when, receiving a ball on the right side of the pitch from Brahim Diaz, he decided to shoot from the first, from a volley, but his powerful execution was blocked by the Argentine goalkeeper in a safe area. Alvaro Garcia escaped with the Real Madrid goal alone towards the last quarter of an hour of the match, but the home team’s offensive player’s right-footed finish went just wide.
The goalless draw at the “Estadio Vallecas” brought one point to each team, with Rayo Vallecano accumulating 15 in the general standings, being in 12th place, while “los blancos” kept their “leadership seat”, with a total of 31 points collected up to this point of the season, with the mention that FC Barcelona can recover from the deficit, if they defeat Celta Vigo in this round. In the next round, the students trained by Inigo Perez will face, away, Real Oviedo, and the team from the “Santiago Bernabeu” will play in the company of those from Elche, far from the Spanish capital.