Real Madrid v Rayo Vallecano La Liga preview
Jose Mourinho reiterated his support for Vinicius Junior up front Real MadridThe clash with Rayo Vallecano as the whites aim to return to victory in LaLiga.
Madrid suffered what could prove to be a damaging first defeat of the campaign in their previous league game, Troy Parrott’s goal condemning them to a 1-0 defeat at Real Betis when Kylian Mbappé missed a last-minute penalty.
Jose Mourinho’s men bounced back in the Champions League as they saw off his former side Inter Milan 2-1 in their Champions League opener, but Vinicius was booed by the home crowd at the Santiago Bernabeu as the Brazilian struggled to influence the game.
Even at this early stage of the season, Madrid cannot afford to lose any more ground in what is likely to be a two-horse title race with unbeaten Barcelona.
With Barça not in action until Sunday when they travel to Levante, a home game against Rayo, who haven’t won at the Bernabéu in more than 30 years, offers an opportunity to put pressure on the opposition goal by drawing on points.
And Mourinho, who defended Vinicius after the win against Inter, is confident the striker will find his best form and help Madrid in their bid to beat Barca to the title and chase European glory.
“In Portugal there is a proverb that I don’t know if it exists in Spain: you only throw stones at trees that bear fruit,” Mourinho said at the pre-match press conference.
“What has Vini done here in recent years? How many Champions Leagues has he won and how many goals has he scored? What has he done here in the last five or six years? He is a tree that bears a lot of fruit, and people throw stones because they want the fruit. They want the best of Vinicius, and the best will come.”
“Against Benfica (last season) he single-handedly decided the tie. That Vinicius will come, but at the moment he hasn’t been at that level yet. This is a Vini who works harder than ever.”
“In this age of data, he’s very close to his top speed. He’s broken his record for rebounds this season and also in the defensive third… He’ll be there soon.”
A number of Madrid stars will be hoping to impress against Saturday’s opponents Rayo, although Los Blancos needed a 100th-minute goal from Mbappé to win this match 2-1 last season.
Rayo picked up their first win of the new season last time out as they twice came from behind to beat newly promoted Racing de Santander 3-2.
But only one team, Elche (11), have conceded more goals than Rayo this season, with the Benat San José side conceding 10 times in four games. Unless Rayo’s defense makes a noticeable improvement, it’s hard to see them threatening to claim an impressive result against their neighbours.
Real Madrid v Vallecano La Liga team news
Eder Militao (muscle), Rodrygo (knee), Raul Asencio (thigh) and Ferland Mendy (hip) remain sidelined for Madrid, but Bernardo Silva, Arda Guler and Eduardo Camavinga will return to the squad after missing the win over Inter through suspension.
Andriy Lunin should return to the Madrid squad after an illness.
Augusto Batalla (leg), Jozhua Vertrouwd (hamstring), Luiz Felipe (thigh), Isi Palazon (muscle) miss out for Rayo, who will also have to check the fitness of Marash Kumbulla (muscle).
Jorge de Frutos is penalized by the visitors.
Real Madrid – Rayo Vallecano predicted lineups
Real Madrid: Courtois; Dumfries, Conate, Huijsen, Cucurella; Valverde, Bernardo; Guler, Bellingham, Vinicius; Mbappé
Rayo Vallecano: Cardenas; Ratiu, Lejeune, Ciss, Pedrosa; López, Valentine, Díaz; Tsitaishvili, Camello, A Garcia
Real Madrid v Vallecano stats, La Liga form
- Madrid are unbeaten in their last seven meetings with Vallecano (3W, 4D) and have won each of the last two 2-1 as hosts of the match.
- Their only defeat in the last 10 editions of the game since April 2019 was a 3-2 La Liga defeat in November 2022.
- Los Blancos have not lost at home to Vallecano in 18 games in all competitions (13 wins, 5 draws) since a 2-1 La Liga defeat in January 1996, when Guilherme Alves scored twice.
- Four of their last six meetings with Vallecano have been draws, with one of the two goalless stalemates on the way to the Bernabéu in November 2023.
- Cristiano Ronaldo is the top scorer in the game’s history with 12 goals, which puts Madrid’s all-time top scorer ahead of the second player on this list, Karim Benzema, who has 11.
- Vallecano has scored in six of his last eight meetings with Madrid, including four of his last five, with a total of six goals.
- They are yet to keep a clean sheet in four games this season and have had one in their last eight La Liga games, although they have conceded one goal or less in four of those games, with only Barcelona having more than two.
- Espanyol and Sevilla (67 each), Real Sociedad (62) and Racing Club (60) are the only teams to have committed more fouls in La Liga this season than Vallecano (58).
- Only Elche (12) have conceded more goals than Vallecano (10), while Getafe and Sevilla are the only teams to match their total of two red cards in the 2026/27 top flight.
- With four goals in five games, Sergio Camello is the second top scorer in the division this season behind Barcelona’s Raphinha (6).
Where to watch Real Madrid-Vallecano: TV channel, live online broadcasts
Kick-off on Saturday is 20:00 BST (15:00 ET / 12:00 PT). In the UK, live coverage is on Disney Plus.
Live streaming on a wide range of devices is available on the Disney Plus app. UK subscriptions cost between £5.99 and £14.99 per month or between £99.90 and £149.90 per year.
Here is the full list of International broadcasters of the League.
Real Madrid v Rayo Vallecano prediction
A high-scoring game seems likely given Rayo’s ability to entertain, but don’t expect them to show the defensive solidity needed to get something out of the Bernabéu.
Real Madrid
3-2
Rayo Vallecano
The league table
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position 1, 2, 3, 4: Champions League stage
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position 5: League phase Europa League
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position 6: Playoffs of the ECL
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position 18, 19, 20: Descent
