A third consecutive away trip within the city of Madrid would usually sound comfortable for Real Madrid, but two points from three games later, it’s clear that it was anything but. The easiest on paper was the latest, a visit to Rayo Vallecano as they fought for survival to maintain their La Liga status, yet it was the most humiliating as the hosts ran out 1-0 winners.
Despite a tactical experiment from Zinedine Zidane, Adrián Embarba scored the winner from 12 yards, converting after Jesús Vallejo tugged at Javi Guerra’s shirt to bring the striker down. This having been given a rare start after Real Madrid refused to allow loanee Raúl de Tomás to play against his parent club. There was no way back for the giants and the tie went on to finish with a single goal difference.
Our tactical analysis will use statistics to identify what key points Zidane can take from the game as his team continued to stutter on the road.
Lineups
Rayo Vallecano were forced to experiment with De Tomás unavailable and following the thrashing from Sevilla in midweek. Guerra’s start in attack was perhaps the biggest surprise given that many expected former Chelsea man Franco di Santo to start.
Real Madrid did so voluntarily, with injury to the in-form Karim Benzema meaning that Zidane gave a start to Mariano Díaz. Alongside Gareth Bale, they formed a front two in front of a midfield four, which was classed as 4-1-3-2 but was actually more akin to a diamond in most phases of play.
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