Real Madrid narrowly avoided another disappointment despite having a man advantage. Mbappé scored the winning goal against Rayo with a penalty in the tenth minute of extra time. Nevertheless, the Royals had to endure plenty of boos.
Real Madrid suffered a painful 2-4 defeat at Benfica in the Champions League during the week, dropping them out of the top 8. Instead of qualifying directly for the round of 16, the Royals now face a playoff against Benfica. On Sunday, Alvaro Arbeloa’s team needed to respond once again in what has been a bumpy season.
Vinicius Junior scores a spectacular goal – whistles at half-time
The atmosphere at the Bernabeu was strange at the start, with the fans letting the team know what they thought of their performances in recent weeks, especially in Lisbon. Vinicius Junior was whistled at, as he had been in the home game against Levante. In sporting terms, the first good chance fell to the visitors, with Akhomach missing from a good position (6′).
Real, who had to cope with the early injury loss of Bellingham (10′, Brahim Diaz came on for the Englishman), got off to a very slow start. But then a moment of genius helped: Vinicius Junior cut in from the left and scored with a dream shot off the underside of the crossbar into the top right corner (15′). The perfect response to the boos. The Brazilian then celebrated with the fans, kissed the crest and sent a clear message: We can only do this together!
The Blancos were then better in the game, but in an overall low-scoring encounter, nothing more came of it than Arda Güler’s shot (19′). Because the visitors struggled offensively, Real went into the break with a narrow lead, accompanied by a chorus of boos from the fans.
De Frutos equalizes – Mbappé misses a huge chance
The visitors got off to a dream start after the break, with Chavarria setting up de Frutos, who scored the equalizer (49′). This caused the mood to sink even further, with whistles ringing out repeatedly. The Royals also put in an extremely poor performance and had Courtois to thank for not falling behind, as the keeper saved against Ratio, who had broken through unmarked (64′). Mbappé then had a huge chance at the other end, beating Batalla but hitting the bar instead of the empty net (68′).
Nasty kick from Ciss – Mbappé cool as ice from the spot
All in all, however, it was a very poor performance from Los Blancos, who had alarmingly few solutions up front against the 15th-placed team. The hosts were then able to play the final phase with a man advantage because Ciss put the ball too far ahead of himself and then stepped on Ceballos’ ankle, a clear red card (80′). With a man advantage, Real then put on the pressure and had their best phase of the game, with Ceballos curling the ball just wide to the right (82′) and Camavinga heading against the post (85′).
It looked as if Rayo would survive the nine minutes of added time despite being a man down, but then Mendy fouled Brahim Diaz in the penalty area, resulting in a penalty for Real. Mbappé kept his cool and scored the winner for the Royals in the tenth minute of added time. Shortly before the end, there was a second red card for the visitors, with Chavarria receiving a second yellow card (90+13).
What happens next? On Sunday (9 p.m.), Real Madrid will play at Valencia CF. Rayo will face Real Oviedo a day earlier (2 p.m.).