Real Madrid's Nightmare Spiral in Vallecas

MADRID, SATURDAY – The timeline of Real Madrid's performances whenever they visit Rayo Vallecano's home ground, Vallecas Stadium, resembles a spiral that continues to revolve in the same place. Real consistently struggles to secure full points each time they compete there. Armed with the steady hand of coach Xabi Alonso, Real is determined to put an end to this nightmare when they face Rayo on Sunday (9/11/2025) at 22:15 WIB.

The match against Rayo took place under less than ideal circumstances for Real. The defeat to Liverpool in the UEFA Champions League served as a poor foundation ahead of their visit to Vallecas Stadium. In fact, Real needed at least a good result to boost the morale of the players before heading there.

The stadium on the outskirts of Madrid is quite unwelcoming for Real. "Los Blancos" last achieved victory there in the 2021-2022 season, and that was only by a narrow score of 1-0. In the next three encounters at Vallecas, Real suffered a defeat of 2-3, and could only manage to secure two draws at best.

This defeat (to Liverpool) should not break the positive trend that we have established. We will face a tough match in the next game at Vallecas and we are fully focused on winning there.

At the moment Real returned empty-handed from their visit to Liverpool, the opposite situation was experienced by Rayo. The team, coached by Inigo Perez, was filled with high confidence after successfully defeating the Polish representative, Lech Poznan, in the continuation of the Europa Conference League. Rayo achieved this victory in a dramatic fashion after trailing by two goals in the first half and then managing to score three goals in the second half.

The result suggests that Rayo is a very tenacious team throughout the 90 minutes. Their performance this season has also been quite good, ranking in the top 10 of La Liga up to week 12. If they are not cautious, it is not impossible for Real to find themselves caught in a recurring spiral every time they challenge Rayo at Vallacas.

"This defeat (to Liverpool) must not break the positive trend we've built. We face a tough match in Vallecas next, and we're fully focused on winning there," said Real Madrid left-back Alvaro Carreras, as quoted by Diario AS.

When facing Liverpool, Real played aggressively with a high defensive line. This approach needs to be applied very carefully when facing Rayo. This is because Rayo is a La Liga team with the highest average long pass accuracy, achieving 28.6 accurate long passes per match.

A team with accurate long passes like Rayo will be very troublesome for opponents who play with a high defensive line. Barcelona, a team characterized by a high defensive line, has already proven this by only managing to bring home one point from Rayo's home ground last September.

In addition, Rayo is also very strong in the aspect of intercepting or cutting off the opponent's passing lanes. "Los Franjirrojos" ranks second in terms of the total number of interceptions, with 96 times.

Looking at the statistical records, it is understandable that Real midfielder, Arda Guler, feels that the goal of ending the nightmare in Vallecas will not be easily realized. "We anticipate that this will be a difficult match. However, we must be prepared to face any scenario. We want to win and enter the international break with three additional points," said Guler.

One weakness of Real that Alonso is still working to improve is their vulnerability in anticipating set-piece executions. This shortcoming was once again exposed during their defeat to Liverpool due to a header goal from Alexis Mac Allister, who capitalized on a set-piece execution. Mac Allister's goal marked the fifth time Real has conceded from set-piece situations this season.

"We are most often caught off guard by set pieces. I believe that should be avoidable. They (Liverpool) put a lot of pressure on us," said Alonso.

Previously, Real also suffered losses due to their failure to anticipate the opponent's set pieces. When they were decisively defeated 2-5 by Atletico Madrid, Real conceded two headed goals in the first half. The tendency of Real to concede goals from set piece executions has become increasingly concerning as it continues to result in losses in major matches.

Conceding many goals from set pieces feels quite strange considering that Real has Sebas Parrilla, Alonso's assistant since their time at Bayer Leverkusen, who is skilled at honing the team to be strong in set piece situations.

So far, Parrilla has not been able to replicate that brilliance at Real. Aware of this weakness, Real brought in a set-piece specialist from Leganes, Jesus Rueda. However, Rueda has also been unable to address this deficiency.