Real Madrid vs. Rayo Vallecano: Preview and betting tips

In the 36th round of La Liga, Real Madrid and Rayo Vallecano play a mini-derby. While Los Blancos don’t have much to play for anymore, Rayo can still fight for the Conference League. What to bet on?

La Liga already has a sure winner, Barcelona have already celebrated the title with a preview. Real Madrid are currently in a tug of war with Atlético Madrid for second place, but nobody really cares much about that.

Real’s latest defeat in Valencia was overshadowed by the racist attacks on Vinícius Junior, which finally sparked a discussion on how to end this issue once and for all.

However, the Brazilian received a red card at Mestalla and will not help Real against Rayo. On the other hand, Mario Suárez, who was red-carded off the bench during the match against Betis, will be missing.

Rayo Vallecano still has a chance to win the European Cup. They are only in 11th place, but they have 46 points. Seventh-placed Athletic have 50 points, so the Conference Preliminaries are not entirely unrealistic.

However, Rayo would have a much better chance if they beat penultimate-placed Espanyol this weekend. With 49 points, they would have jumped to 8th place, but the Blues lost 1:2 at home to the rescue team.

In their last game, Rayo shocked Real by winning 3-2 at the Estadio Vallecas. Comesana opened the scoring, but Real turned it around thanks to Modric and Milita, but Garcia equalised before half-time to make it 2-2. Trejo then made the difference in the 67th minute.

However, Raya are not doing well at the Santiago Bernabéu, having lost 12 games in a row. Real should keep the three points this time.