Rayo Vallecano and Real Madrid meet this Monday in Vallecas in the match corresponding to the thirteenth day of LaLiga Santander. The leader of the domestic championship visits a rival that grows against the greats and has a good dynamic.
Andoni Iraola's men will test a Madrid that dropped two points last matchday against Girona at the Santiago Bernabeu and that feels pressure from Barcelona, who did their homework by beating Almería (2-0) and has slept as leader this weekend, with a two point lead.
Rayo Vallecano - Real Madrid will be played on November 7 at 9:00 p.m. and will be broadcast by Movistar LaLiga. The La Vanguardia website will also broadcast live what happens during the ninety minutes of the match.
Without Karim Benzema, out again, Madrid will try to exploit their power as a visitor. Carlo Ancelotti's men have a full victories in six outings... to recover the leadership of LaLiga Santander.
The pressure before the break for the World Cup will be felt by Real Madrid in the last two days. They are obliged to win if they want to maintain their privileged situation in the month and a half that the domestic competition stops. A situation that is expected to be repeated on the weekdays, with Xavi's team visiting El Sadar two days earlier.
And Carlo Ancelotti's team must respond again without Karim Benzema. The Frenchman will miss his sixth league game in just thirteen days, lacking confidence due to muscular discomfort that he has not fully healed and the shadow of suspicion due to the proximity of a World Cup that no one wants to miss. He reappeared for a few minutes against Celtic in the Champions League, after three games out and when the demand for a sentenced game was lowered. But he will not have continuity.
It provokes the presence of the Brazilian Rodrygo as 9 and the continuity of Marco Asensio in the starting team, hard earned, taking advantage of every minute that Ancelotti gave him to try to get a place in the World Cup with the Spanish team and increase his role in Real Madrid .
Ancelotti praised his connection with Fede Valverde in the few minutes that coincided, as if anticipating what would happen in Vallecas with the Uruguayan delaying his position to play inside due to Toni Kroos being suspended.
The recovery of Aurélien Tchouaméni is a relief for 'Carletto' who has always beaten Rayo in six matches and has a record within reach if he repeats success. He will not be able to count on Antonio Rüdiger in defense due to an overload in the hip and points to defensive work as the key to being victorious. And it is that at this point in the season Thibaut Courtois has still not managed to keep a clean sheet in any of the eight league games that he played. It is his worst statistic in Spanish football and he wants to close it as soon as possible.
Rayo has gone four games without losing and, of the last twelve points at stake, has added eight, four of them away with the draw against Atlético de Madrid (1-1) and the victory with Sevilla (0-1) , in two games against bigger rivals.
With 18 points in the table, closer to the European zone than to relegation, Rayo lives comfortably installed in the middle of the table knowing that, whatever happens in the two remaining games before the break, they will face those seven weeks without league competition out of the descent.
For this match Andoni Iraola recovers two very important players in his dressing room. One is Argentine playmaker Oscar Trejo, who did not play against Sevilla due to being suspended, and another is Colombian striker Radamel Falcao, recovered from a muscle injury that prevented him from playing the last two games.
Of the two, the one who will surely appear in the starting eleven is Trejo, who will once again lead his team one line behind the reference player in attack, who is likely to be Sergio Camello again.
No news is expected in the rest of the lines. Perhaps the only doubt lies in the midfield with three players -Santi Comesaña, Oscar Valentín and Pathé Ciss- for two positions. The decision will be made at the last minute by Iraola depending on whether he bets on a more playful and possession profile than another with greater containment and more physicality.
