Vallecas gauges the leader’s reaction
Real Madrid faces Rayo in the midst of a crisis of results
MADRID, 25 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Real Madrid faces this Saturday in Vallecas (6:30 p.m./Movistar LaLiga) a Madrid derby with which it intends to increase its income at the head of LaLiga Santander, a day in which Rayo Vallecano needs to quell its crisis of results and in which seeks to give surprise to be able to look up.
The murmurs seemed to be felt again at the Bernabéu after the team achieved a single victory in five games, especially after the defeat in the first leg of the ‘Champions’ round of 16 against Paris Saint-Germain, but Carlo Ancelotti’s men recovered the smile and the punch against Deportivo Alavés (3-0).
Goals from Marco Asensio, Vinícius and Karim Benzema rewarded a Real Madrid team that improved its performance after the break and that, with the help of a Sevilla team that stumbled against Espanyol (1-1), increased the distance from their pursuers to stay as the undisputed leader of the competition (57).
“Before Paris Saint-Germain we have two finals; winning in Vallecas and against Real Sociedad would mean a lot for LaLiga. I’m going to put the best team against Rayo and Real Sociedad before PSG,” warned Ancelotti, who still does not think about the duel in a week and a half. Before receiving the desired Kylian Mbappé, Leo Messi or Neymar, the madridistas will have to endorse what they showed against the Vitorians.
High pressure became the essential weapon of the madridistas, who remained calm to uncover the jar of essences with a left-footed shot from Marco Asensio. With this, they lead Sevilla by six units, a figure that could increase depending on what happens in the Seville derby.
The Spaniard will presumably be in the game together with the Frenchman Karim Benzema and the Brazilian Vinícius, while Gareth Bale, with a new muscle problem, will not be in Vallecas, nor will the headdress David Alaba. Given the loss of the Austrian defender, Nacho will form a couple with Militao, one of the two novelties in the eleven along with Luka Modric, who returns to take the place of Fede Valverde.
After three games in a row without winning -including the one in Paris-, Real Madrid now faces Rayo Vallecano away from home who, after making a fantastic start, have not been able to keep up the pace and are yet to win in the league competition in 2022.
Only the Copa del Rey, in which he is now on the ropes after Real Betis’s comeback in the first leg of the semifinals (1-2), has allowed Andoni Iraola’s team to isolate themselves from the dramatic trajectory in LaLiga, in which drags four straight losses and six days without winning -one point of 18 possible-.
In spite of everything, the red-and-red team has a comfortable advantage of 11 points over relegation, with the European zone, in which they were for quite a few days, at eight, but they know that they cannot relax if they do not want to be involved in problems.
With the only loss of Martín Merquelanz and the doubt of Unai López, Iraola recovers the defenders Esteban Saveljich and Nikola Maras, all in a game in which he could bet on Sergi Guardiola or Radamel Falcao, who has accumulated more than three months without scoring -precisely from the day he scored against the whites in the first round and ended up injured-, for the point of attack.
DATASHEET.
–POSSIBLE ALIGNMENTS.
VALLEY RAY: Dimitrievski; Balliu, Saveljich, Catena, Fran Garcia; Comesana, Valentin, Trejo; Isi, Álvaro García and Guardiola.
REAL MADRID: Courtois; Carvajal, Militao, Nacho, Mendy; Casemiro, Modric, Kroos; Asensio, Vinicius and Benzema.
–REFEREE: Díaz de Mera Escuderos (C.Castellano-La Mancha).
–STADIUM: Vallecas.
–TIME: 18.30/Movistar LaLiga.