Real Madrid loses its head in Vallecas
A great Rayo Vallecano imposes his intensity and his best football to defeat the champion 3-2 and hand over the lead to FC Barcelona
MADRID, 7 Nov. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Real Madrid ceded the leadership of LaLiga Santander 2022-2023 to FC Barcelona and confirmed that it is going through a rough patch before the break for the Qatar World Cup after falling 3-2 on Monday in its visit to a Rayo Vallecano that beat it in all in the Vallecas Stadium.
The Madrid team drowned in the red-and-red fiefdom, again a fort for Andoni Iraola’s men, who after stealing two points from FC Barcelona and Atlético de Madrid away from home, took three keys from Carlo Ancelotti’s men, unable to decipher the duel raised by his rival, whom he came to dominate on the scoreboard as a mirage.
The current champion did not savor the victory in the third of their last four games, a worrying downturn for a team that had started the season in a rush and that little by little has been losing steam until they see themselves two points behind a Barça that was the one that He seemed to be in crisis and now he is ahead by two points in the absence of one more league clash.
In Vallecas, the 14-time European champion never had the pause or the head that both Toni Kroos and Karim Benzema usually give him. Without them, and with the weak level given by players like a Tchouameni who has lost shine, a Vinicius again more entangled in disputes than in his football or a Valverde who could not show his power, he was the victim of a Rayo Vallecano full of energy . There was demerit in the visitors, but it was more due to the merit of the locals.
From the initial whistle, Real Madrid confirmed that a complex night awaited them. Despite an initial threat from ‘Vini’, the game only had one direction, towards Courtois’s goal, and the reward was quick for the red-haired team. Fran García, a torture for Carvajal throughout the game, found space and his precise delivery to the heart of the area found finesse in Comesaña’s cross shot.
The 1-0 made Andoni Iraola’s men even more accelerated, who stole the ball from the European champion, gripped by the suffocating pressure to which he was subjected and that did not let him think. Courtois then emerged as the savior to prevent the score from widening with two good interventions that gave his team air.
Rayo took a much-needed breather, enough for Ancelotti’s men to take their well-known ‘punching’ out for a walk. After the best option for an ill-advised Rodrygo, Fran García was unable to stop Asensio’s boarding in the area and knocked him down, a penalty decreed via VAR and that Modric transformed.
Before the Vallecano team could digest the tie, Militao showed his aerial power to turn the score around with a header from a corner kick. Real Madrid promised them they would be happy, but Iraola’s team recovered and did not forgive Madrid’s defensive weakness with the draw, the work of a furious shot by Álvaro García.
The champion still had one more chance in a fast-paced finish in Vinicius’s boots before a break that gave way to another display of energy from the locals, who dominated the second half and were only locked up in the closing stages by the momentum of his rival, little threatening until that moment except for a good occasion to Rodrygo’s counterattack.
But from then on, it almost always went all the way back to Courtois and almost always on a left side that continued to punish Fran García. Real Madrid, without the ball, had to limit themselves to defending and this season they have already shown that they are not doing too well.
Then, the VAR reappeared to be decisive. First, to warn Martínez Munuera of a handball from Carvajal in the area, and then to order him to repeat the penalty that Courtois, with neither foot on the line, had guessed Trejo had given. Isi gave the ball back to the captain and he did not waste his second chance.
Real Madrid had more than half an hour left to try to turn around a game that had gotten complicated. Rayo knew how to remain calm and hit the mark with their substitutions, while Ancelotti’s didn’t have much of an effect. Rodrygo culminated his black night by failing to hit the last great away occasion and Vallecas celebrated with joy
–RESULT: RAYO VALLECANO, 3 – REAL MADRID, 2 (2-2, at halftime).
RAYO VALLECANO: Dimitrievski; Balliu, Lejeune, Catena, Fran García; Comesaña (Ciss, min.79), Valentín, Trejo (Unai López, min.71); Isi (Chavarria, min.88), Camello (Falcao, min.88) and Álvaro García (Salvi, min.88).
REAL MADRID: Courtois; Carvajal (Lucas Vazquez, min.85), Militao, Praise, Mendy (Nacho, min.85); Modric (Mariano, 79th minute), Tchouameni (Camavinga, 69th minute), Valverde; Asensio, Rodrigo and Vinicius.
1-0, minute 5. Comesaña.
1-1, minute 38. Modric, from a penalty.
1-2, minute 41. Militao.
2-2, minute 44. Álvaro García.
3-2, minute 67. Trejo, from a penalty.
— REFEREE: Martínez Munuera (C. Valenciano). He cautioned Catena (min.2), Trejo (min.48), Balliu (min.87), Chavarria (min.91), by Rayo Vallecano, and Vinicius (min.11), Modric (min.60), Carvajal (min.65), Rodrygo (min.70) and Lucas Vázquez (min.99), for Real Madrid. Expulsion of Andoni Iraola in the 61st minute.
–STADIUM: Vallecas.
