La Liga: Previewing Rayo Vallecano vs. Real Madrid
After a dull, goalless draw against Getafe on Thursday night, Real Madrid is back in action in La Liga tonight as they take on Rayo Vallecano who are doing what they can to avoid being relegated this season.
Rayo Vallecano needs all the luck and help they can get as they tried negotiating with Real Madrid to let Raul De Tomas play for them on the night even though he’s on loan from the Spanish capital.
Unfortunately for them, Real Madrid did not grant that wish as they wanted one million euros to let him play. This is less about wanting money and more about setting a precedent for future clubs that may face the same issue with Los Blancos whether the team has something to play for or not.
With Barcelona having secured the league (as expected), Real Madrid must continue to chase second place for their own egos if nothing else as they want to end the season on a high note. Unfortunately for them though, the scorer of their past eight goals has not been called up due to injury as it seems like fatigue has gotten the best of Karim Benzema.
📝 Our 19-man squad for the #RMLiga clash against @RayoVallecano! #HalaMadrid pic.twitter.com/Lk6QEBDGSY
— Real Madrid C.F. 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@realmadriden) April 27, 2019
Zinedine Zidane has made a few changes to the squad that he has called up for the game in comparison to the players that were called up last Thursday as Dani Ceballos and Marcos Llorente have both made the list while Sergio Reguilón has not. Mariano Diaz is on the list as well and will be expected to start tonight with the Benzema’s absence.
The last time the two sides met, Real Madrid was able to barely get through with a 1-0 win thanks to a Karim Benzema goal at the Santiago Bernabéu and that in itself should be an indicator to how much more difficult tonight will be as Rayo will be doing everything in their power to come out with all three points.
With four matches left until the season officially ends, Zidane will have a clear idea of who he wants to keep next season and any question marks should disappear soon.
Despite impressive form, Karim Benzema played too much this season. dark. Next
With many of the players having played the full 90 minutes on Thursday against Getafe, Zidane will be wary of over-exhausting them and therefore, we should expect a few changes as any team fielded by Zidane should be good enough to overcome a resistant Rayo Vallecano side.
Predicted starting lineup
Thibaut Courtois, Daniel Carvajal, Raphael Varane, Nacho Fernandez, Marcelo, Marcos Llorente, Toni Kroos, Luka Modric, Lucas Vazquez, Marco Asensio, Mariano Diaz