Overview
Rayo Vallecano have been playing inconsistently in La Liga this season. In the last 5 rounds, the home team at Estadio de Vallecas has lost 3 and won 2.
Before round 17, Vallecano ranked 12th on the rankings with 19 points. Notably, the scoring efficiency of coach Inigo Perez's team was quite poor with only 15 goals, the lowest among the 14 leading teams.
Real Madrid won their second consecutive match by beating Atalanta 3-2 in the Champions League. Before that, coach Carlo Ancelotti's team defeated Girona 3-0 in La Liga.
With arch-rivals Barcelona held to a draw by Real Betis, Los Blancos have narrowed the gap with their opponents to just 2 points and have 1 match left to play.
The "White Vultures" are very eager to aim for another victory against Rayo Vallecano. Ancelotti's team needs to accumulate more points to put pressure on Barcelona, at the same time increase their confidence towards the FIFA Intercontinental Cup final.
However, the Bernabeu team will face many difficulties because Kylian Mbappe has just been injured. However, with the remaining players, they are still capable of defeating Vallecano.
Last season, both clashes between Rayo Vallecano and Real Madrid ended in draws. Ancelotti's side have failed to win at the Estadio de Vallecas in either of their last two visits.
Human resources situation
Rayo Vallecano are missing two players as Pelayo Fernandez and Raul de Tomas are both absent through injury.
On the other side of the front line, Real Madrid also has its own problem as Mbappe will be absent for the next few matches. Besides, Ferland Mendy, Eduardo Camavinga, Eder Militao, Dani Carvajal and David Alaba can also not play for the away team.
Expected lineup:
Ray Vallecano: Batalla, Ratiu, Lejeune, Mumin, Chavarria, Valentin, Ciss, De Frutos, Palazon, Garcia, Nteka.
Real Madrid: Courtois, Vazquez, Tchouameni, Rudiger, Garcia, Valverde, Ceballos, Bellingham, Rodrygo, Vinicius, Diaz.
The match between Rayo Vallecano and Real Madrid takes place at 3:00 a.m. on December 15 (Vietnam time).
