Match Preview

Real Madrid stay on the road Sunday against Rayo Vallecano just a few days after drawing with Getafe 0-0 on Thursday.

Real remain third in the LaLiga table with the 10-point lead held over Getafe.

Vallecano are meanwhile fighting to avoid relegation back to the Segunda Division and are at the bottom of the league, nine points from getting out of the relegation zone. It doesn’t help that they just lost 5-0 to Sevilla on Thursday either.

These two clubs met back in December when Luka Modric was presented with his Ballon D’Or trophy at the Bernabéu, a 1-0 victory for Real Madrid.

Vallecano will no doubt be fighting tough under new manager Paco Jémez to avoid relegation, though it will be no easy task this late in the game. They will try to give Real Madrid a tough time in front of their home crowd at the Vallecas.

Injuries/Suspensions

Real Madrid recently added Karim Benzema to the injury list after Thursday’s draw with Getafe. Sergio Reguilón is also out of the released squad. Sergio Ramos, Vinicius, and Alvaro Odriozola all still remain out with injuries as well.

Vallecano will be without long-term injured midfielder Gorka Elustondo.

There are no suspensions for either side in Sunday’s match.

Potential XIs

Real Madrid

Navas; Carvajal, Varane, Nacho, Marcelo; Modric, Casemiro, Kroos; Bale, Asensio, Mariano

With Reguilón out, it’s almost a definite that Marcelo will start against Vallecano after not starting against Getafe.

There’s bound to be some rotation in the midfield as well with Valverde, Casemiro, and Isco all starting on Thursday. This is perhaps where we’ll see Modric and Kroos slot back into the starting lineup. Llorente and Ceballos are both back in the squad, though there is no guarantee Zidane goes with either so soon.

With Benzema out, it is all but certain that Mariano will finally get another start up top.

Rayo Vallecano

Garcia; Velazquez, Galvez, Amat; Embarba, Agbo, Suarez, Moreno; Garcia, Pozo, Di Santo

Prediction

Rayo Vallecano—Real Madrid 0-2

As mentioned before, Vallecano will be fighting tough to avoid relegation after coming off that crushing loss to Sevilla.

It’s not so often that we see matches this close together, midweek and weekend matches this close. It’s going to be tough to get the result on the road again but this is a club Real Madrid should be winning over.

Real can make this weekend a relative successful one with a draw and a potential win respectively.