Real Madrid seeks to regain leadership in Vallecas
Ancelotti’s men, without Benzema, attend the meeting against a grown Rayo
MADRID, 6 Nov. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Real Madrid is looking for, in an atypical Monday matchday in Vallecas (9:00 p.m./Movistar LaLiga), a victory that returns the leadership of LaLiga Santander, snatched by FC Barcelona in Gerard Piqué’s farewell, against a grown Rayo Vallecano and who longs to surprise the whites at home again like three years ago.
Carlo Ancelotti’s team has known how to stop the small pothole that began with their defeat in the ‘Champions’ against RB Leipzig (3-2) and continued with a draw against Girona at the Santiago Bernabéu (1-1), which even so it did not lower him from the first place in LaLiga; their rout against Celtic (5-1) gave them first place in the Champions League group and returned Chamartín to normality.
In spite of everything, the controversy has been served in recent days by the statements of the Italian coach, who risks a sanction of several suspension games for assuring that the referee Melero López had “invented” the penalty by the hand of Marco Asensio who allowed Christian Stuani to tie last day’s match. “I said what everyone thinks,” added ‘Carletto’ during the week.
Despite everything, life goes on and the need is pressing, which is why the madridistas (32) are now focused on maintaining their undefeated record and regaining first place in the table, which Barça (34) took up on Saturday after beat Almeria (2-0).
To do this, they will seek to link seven league wins as a visitor for the first time since 2017 in a match in which they will have to correct their mistakes at the back, which have cost them at least one goal in 14 of the 19 games played this season.
Of course, Ancelotti will not be able to count on one of his regulars in the midfield, the German Toni Kroos, who suffered the first expulsion of the season for the white team against Girona, and it will likely be the Frenchman Aurélien Tchouaméni and the Uruguayan Fede Valverde, that will delay his position, those who accompany the Croatian Luka Modric in midfield.
Without Antonio Rüdiger, due to an overload in the hip, Madrid’s offensive reference, Karim Benzema, will not be in Vallecas, again attacked by “muscular fatigue” and who will miss his sixth league game. The absence of the Frenchman, who played a few minutes against Celtic, will be replaced by the Brazilian Rodrygo, the ‘9’ of a trident that Marco Asensio and Vinícius will complete.
Opposite, Rayo Vallecano wants to extend their series of four undefeated games, the last two with victories against Cádiz (5-1) and Sevilla (0-1), to continue rising in the table, where they are ninth with 18 units, to four of the European positions.
In the memory of the red-and-red fans, the last victory against the Madrid team, in 2019, is still lucid, when a goal by Adrián Embarba in Vallecas sank the men then led by Zinédine Zidane (1-0).
However, that has been the only success for the Rayista team against the LaLiga champion in their last 17 games, although Andoni Iraola’s team has grown up after winning for the first time in 22 years at the Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán.
To try to surprise Real Madrid, they brought back Colombian Radamel Falcao, who already knows what it means to mark Carlo Ancelotti’s team as a Rayista. Randy Nteka will serve his second game of suspension, while Andrés Martín and José Ángel Pozo are doubtful due to discomfort.
VALLEYAN LIGHTNING: Dimitrievski; Balliu, Lejeune, Catena, Fran Garcia; Comess, Valentine, Trejo; Isi, Alvaro Garcia and Camel.
REAL MADRID: Courtois; Carvajal, Militao, Alaba, Mendy; Tchouaméni, Modric, Valverde; Asensio, Rodrygo and Vinicius.
–REFEREE: Martinez Munuera (C.Valenciano).
–STADIUM: Vallecas.
–TIME: 9:00 p.m./Movistar LaLiga.
