Friday, December 13, 2024, 16:13
Real Madrid will face a trap match this Saturday that could give them provisional leadership of the League. Vallecas, Comanche territory that he failed to attack in his last two visits, will test the improvement of Carlo Ancelotti’s team, which goes to the match against a Rayo located in no man’s land deprived of Mbappé’s contest, but with Camavinga recovered for the cause. Seventeen days after being injured at Anfield, the man from Cabinda is ready for a duel that offers the whites an excellent opportunity to put pressure on Barça, who will host Leganés on Sunday, and continue to boost their morale before traveling to Doha, where On Wednesday they will fight for the Intercontinental Cup.
«Ray has always cost us. They play well and intensely at home, but we are confident of playing a good game. The team has recovered well, after one more day of rest. “We are going with all the enthusiasm in the world to get three points,” said Carletto before another clash that is marked by the infirmary.
The injury to the thigh of his left leg that Mbappé suffered in Bergamo is not serious and everything indicates that he will be available for the Intercontinental final to be held at the Losail Stadium exactly two years after the hat-trick. that he registered against Argentina in that same scenario was insufficient for France to sew its third world champion star on its chest. However, he will miss the match against Rayo, which will force Carletto to rely on other daggers to hurt those from Vallecas.
Vinicius’ good tone against Atalanta, scorer and assistant despite coming back from injury, alleviates the transalpine’s worries. Vallecas is not a friendly stadium for the Fluminense, who received racist insults from a minor during the last visit that Real Madrid made to the franjirrojo fiefdom, nor is Rayo a rival that is good at the ‘7’. He has not scored in any of the six games he has played against the team from the fringe, although he did assist Benzema in the goal that led to Real Madrid’s last victory in Vallecas.
With the challenge of registering his first score against Rayo, Vinicius will face a fight in which he will once again lead Real Madrid’s offensive alongside a bursting Bellingham team that has scored six goals in the last seven games. It remains to be seen what force will complete the visiting vanguard. The performance works in favor of Brahim, brilliant again against Atalanta and more dynamic than Rodrygo, who arrived just in Bergamo and transmits melancholy.
Tchouaméni has many chances to repeat in the rearguard axis according to the words of Ancelotti, who recalled that with him in that position they beat Girona and Atalanta. The statistics support Carletto’s position. Of the fourteen games in which the Ruan player has formed defense over the last two campaigns, Real Madrid has won eleven and drawn three. One of those draws occurred precisely last year against Rayo, when a penalty by Camavinga allowed Raúl de Tomás to equalize a contest in which Joselu had put Real Madrid ahead in Vallecas.
James’ ghost
That fight meant Iñigo Pérez’s debut as franjirrojo coach after Francisco’s departure. Nine months after said appointment, the Navarrese player meets Real Madrid again with the hope of giving the whites another scratch and scoring for the second consecutive day. The victory achieved last Saturday against Valencia ended a streak of three consecutive defeats by Rayo and gave them fresh air. However, the waters are turbulent in Vallecas due to the situation of James Rodríguez, a former Real Madrid player who arrived as a star signing in the summer after becoming MVP of the last Copa América but with whom Iñigo Pérez barely counts.
The Colombian played 125 games throughout the four seasons in which he wore the Real Madrid shirt. He scored 37 goals and distributed 42 assists, although his career was on the decline. He impressed in his first season under Ancelotti, but in the remaining three, under Zidane, he faded away. With Rayo he has barely appeared in seven games and his most notable contribution was the assist he gave in last week’s cup match against Unionistas de Salamanca. He has only played 13 minutes in the last five league games and seeing him on the pitch this Saturday would be a surprise, but his presence adds spice to a game with a lot of pepper.
-Probable alignments:
Rayo Vallecano: Batalla, Ratiu, Lejeune, Mumin, Chavarría, Óscar Valentín, Ciss, De Frutos, Isi, Álvaro García and Nteka.
Real Madrid: Courtois, Lucas Vázquez, Tchouaméni, Rüdiger, Fran García, Ceballos, Valverde, Modric, Bellingham, Brahim and Vinicius.
Referee: Martínez Munuera (Valencian Committee).
Time: 9:00 p.m.
Stadium: Vallecas.
TV: Movistar LaLiga.
