Baby, 'O Rei' from Vallecas

Every story needs a hero and Rayo already has his: Baby, 'O Rei' from Vallecas. The extreme revolutionized the party against Leganés from the moment he jumped onto the pitch and signed a double, which leaves on track – not sentenced – the presence of the franjirrojos in the final of the playoff. Before, on Sunday, those from Iraola will have to visit Butarque and the Portuguese is doubtful due to some discomfort in the shoulder, which did not prevent him from scoring 3-0 or ending the duel. Not to be missed, not even that bit of epic was missing.

Although his season is full of it. Baby suffered a serious crusader injury that fateful October 26, 2019, and He had to face an ordeal of operations, long stays in the hospital, pain, sadness … Even the real possibility of not being able to play football again. On that hard road there were two crutches that supported him, Captain Alberto and Doctor Carlos Beceiro, hugged with them to celebrate their goals, those of Leganés and others who have led the Strip to promotion.

Baby returned to a summons (Tenerife) almost a year after breaking that right knee, debuted at twenty days in the derby against Fuenlabrada and made his first target at Las Palmas on December 20. He already has six in the League and another in the Cup. Some of vital importance such as that gave the victory to Rayo in Almería (made it 0-1 in 89 ') and that of the tie with Albacete (he scored 2-0 in the 87th minute). In addition to laying the foundations for the comeback (3-2) with Zaragoza, in which he participated with 1-2. Only that goal marked him as a starter, since the remaining five were achieved in his role as revulsive.

Hence the stands of Vallecas will dedicate an emotional ovation to him when he entered, in the 64th minute, replacing Qasmi. The winger was Iraola's great asset to unblock the match against Leganés, after having recovered from hamstring problems that he suffered, precisely, against the pepineros in the League and they forced him to be in the dry dock for three days. Now the shoulder endangers his participation in Butarque, as confirmed by the coach himself: “I am very surprised that we can count on him because it has ended up very sore with the shoulder. They will have to do tests. I can't rule it out, but in three days I don't know if we can get it back“.

Despite these setbacks, Baby is showing his best version, throwing the equipment on his back when he needed it, finishing, assisting … He has served two goals to his teammates (Mallorca and Alcorcón) and with his seven goals he has struck down all his scoring records since landing in Spain. Yes indeed, he has in mind those eleven of his time at Paços de Ferreira. Beyond quantity, what prevails in the extreme is quality, since his power in the hit has led him to draw authentic works of art. Rayism still has on the retina his goals from a direct free kick against Elche (Cup), Zaragoza (League) and now, also, Leganés (playoff). The Portuguese ends his contract on the 30th of this month, but wants to continue at Rayo, where he feels loved and happy.