Real Madrid vs Rayo Vallecano Review
José Mourinho’s Real Madrid easily defeated Rayo Vallecano 4-1, returning to winning form in LaLiga and extending their impressive unbeaten head-to-head record at the Bernabéu, which dates back to January 1996 (16 wins, 2 draws). Having scored four goals in each of their two home league games this season, Real were already halfway to matching that achievement within the first 17 minutes of this match.
Álvaro Carreras played a key role in both goals early on: first, he dispossessed Florian Lejeune, leading to a reckless foul in the penalty area that Kylian Mbappé calmly converted from the spot. Just three minutes later, Lejeune made another costly mistake by giving Vinícius Júnior the ball with a poor backpass, which quickly resulted in a slick exchange between Mbappé and Carreras, with Mbappé setting up Carreras to score.
Using his third different goalkeeper this season, Beñat San José relied on debutant Emil Audero to keep Rayo competitive midway through the first half. Audero recovered well after initially spilling a powerful shot from Vinícius, managing to push the ball away from an advancing Mbappé. Real Madrid were unstoppable, quickly building a three-goal lead before halftime, largely due to Vinícius’ direct run that ended with a pass back to Jude Bellingham, who calmly finished with a side-footed shot.
Thibaut Courtois was not completely inactive in the first half, having to make a couple of saves, though there was little he could do when Pedro Díaz’s powerful shot whistled past his fingertips and hit the post after the break. This served as a warning that the home team ignored, as Rayo scored for the 12th consecutive LaLiga game by pressing high, stealing the ball, and setting up Sergio Camello, whose improvised toe poke found the back of the net inside the far post.
The game opened up, with Rayo pressing hard to find a way back into the match. However, this was soon followed by a late surge from Real Madrid, during which Mbappé added to the score with a precise finish after a quick counterattack, marking his 14th LaLiga brace for Los Blancos. Real’s commanding performance means they have lost only two league matches at home since the start of last season (19 wins, 1 draw), bringing them level on points with their rivals Barcelona, although they have played one more game at this early point in the season. Meanwhile, Rayo Vallecano’s struggles on the road continue, having won just twice in their last 16 LaLiga away matches (4 draws, 10 losses).
