First defeat in La Liga for Real Madrid. In the absence of Karim Benzema, the Merengues were surprised 3-2 on Monday at the end of the 13th day on the ground of their neighbor, Rayo Vallecano, and gave up their throne for the first time this season.
In the absence of their French Ballon d’Or, the Merengues were embarked on a crazy scenario: Rayo opened the scoring in the 5th minute thanks to a good recovery from Santi Comesana, then Real regained the advantage thanks to a penalty from Luka Modric (37th) and a header from Eder Militao (41st), but Alvaro Garcia equalized at 2-2 just before the break (44th), and Oscar Trejo sealed the victory for the commuters in the 67th on penalty, for a hand from Dani Carvajal in his area.
With this setback, Carlo Ancelotti’s men stagnate in second place, two points behind FC Barcelona (34 points), winner of Almeria on Saturday evening for Gerard Pique’s last appearance at Camp Nou. “We did not have the realism of the opponent, we had difficulties with our ball outings, we could have put more direct balls, we fished on the duels, the second balls… The quality does not was not enough“, shelled the Italian technician in a post-match press conference.
In the small hostile stadium of Vallecas, the popular district in the south of the Spanish capital, the “White Housedid not find the key. Thibaut Courtois, who did not have a firm enough hand on the equalizer at 2-2, got on well on the last set pieces to try to equalize on the gong… but nothing helped .
This is the first defeat in the league this season for Real, but the second in all competitions: the Merengues were surprised with the same score on the ground of RB Lepizig for the 5th day and penultimate day of the phase of Champions League groups. “Playing every three days is hard, we suffer. We’re not as fresh as before. Especially in this type of matches, where the opponent rushes you and you need legs“, estimated Carlo Ancelotti before adding that the service of the day was not”not just a physical problem».
For Rayo, this victory is a huge breath of fresh air. With these three unexpected points, Rayo climbs to 8th place in the standings (21 points) ahead of Villarreal, and is only three short points from the qualifying places for the Champions League (Atletico is third with 24 points ). And the expulsion of Basque coach Andoni Iraola from the bench, for a gesture of humor in the 61st, only had the effect of inflating the ardor of the premises.
Four days before the break in the championship to make way for the World Cup, Real takes a blow to the head… but will quickly have the opportunity to recover its leader’s chair on Thursday. In feverish expectation of the savior Benzema, the Merengues will host Cadiz (9:30 p.m.) a day after Barça’s match at Osasuna on Wednesday (9:30 p.m.), for the last game of Gerard Pique’s career.