Real Madrid v Rayo Vallecano: Preview, expected line-ups, stats

La Liga, Round 5

Real Madrid REA

12/09/2026 20:00

Rayo Vallecano RAY

Real Madrid v Rayo Vallecano La Liga preview

Jose Mourinho reiterated his support for Vinicius Junior ahead of Real Madrid‘s clash with Rayo Vallecano as Los Blancos aim to get back to winning ways in LaLiga.

Madrid suffered what could prove to be a damaging first defeat of the campaign in their previous league encounter, Troy Parrott’s goal condemning them to a 1-0 loss at Real Betis as Kylian Mbappe missed a last-minute penalty.

Jose Mourinho’s men bounced back in the Champions League as they saw off his former team Inter Milan 2-1 in their Champions League opener, but Vinicius was booed by sections of the fans at the Santiago Bernabeu as the Brazilian struggled to influence the game.

Even at this early stage in the season, Madrid can ill-afford to lose any more ground in what will likely be a two-horse title race with unbeaten Barcelona.

With Barca not in action until Sunday when they travel to Levante, a home game against Rayo, who have not won at the Bernabeu for over 30 years, offers an opportunity to put some pressure on their arch rivals by drawing level on points.

And Mourinho, who defended Vinicius after the win over Inter, is confident the forward will find his best form and aid Madrid in their cause of attempting to beat Barca to the title and pursuing European glory.

“In Portugal, there is a proverb that I don’t know if it exists in Spain: you only throw stones at trees that bear fruit,” Mourinho told his pre-match press conference.

“What has Vini done here in recent years? How many Champions Leagues has he won, and how many goals has he scored? What has he done here in the last five or six years? He is a tree that bears a lot of fruit, and people throw stones because they want the fruit. They want the best of Vinicius, and the best will come.

“Against Benfica [last season], he single-handedly decided the tie. That Vinicius will come, but at this moment, he hasn’t been at that level yet. This is a Vini who is working harder than ever.

“In this era of data, he is very close to his top speed. He broke his record this season in terms of balls recovered and also in the defensive third… He will arrive soon.”

Several of Madrid’s stars will be hopeful of impressing against Saturday’s opponents Rayo, though Los Blancos required a 100th-minute goal from Mbappe to win this fixture 2-1 last season.

Rayo claimed their first win over the new season last time out as they twice came from behind to beat newly promoted Racing Santander 3-2.

But only one team, Elche (11), has shipped more goals than Rayo this season, with Benat San Jose’s side conceding 10 times in four games. Unless Rayo’s defence makes a marked improvement, it is difficult to see them threatening to claim a stunning result against their neighbours.

Real Madrid v Vallecano La Liga team news

Eder Militao (muscle), Rodrygo (knee), Raul Asencio (thigh) and Ferland Mendy (hip) remain out for Madrid, however, Bernardo Silva, Arda Guler and Eduardo Camavinga are set to return to the squad after missing the win over Inter through suspension.

Andriy Lunin should be back in the squad for Madrid following an illness.

Augusto Batalla (leg), Jozhua Vertrouwd (hamstring), Luiz Felipe (thigh), Isi Palazon (muscle) all miss out for Rayo, who will also need to check on the fitness of Marash Kumbulla (muscle).

Jorge de Frutos is suspended for the visitors.

Real Madrid v Rayo Vallecano predicted line ups

Real Madrid: Courtois; Dumfries, Konate, Huijsen, Cucurella; Valverde, Bernardo; Guler, Bellingham, Vinicius; Mbappe

Rayo Vallecano: Cardenas; Ratiu, Lejeune, Ciss, Pedrosa; Lopez, Valentin, Diaz; Tsitaishvili, Camello, A Garcia

Real Madrid v Vallecano stats, La Liga form

• Madrid are unbeaten in their last seven meetings with Vallecano (W3 D4) and have won each of their last two 2-1 as hosts of the fixture
• Their only defeat in the last 10 editions of the fixture since April 2019 was a 3-2 away loss in La Liga in November 2022
• Los Blancos have not lost at home to Vallecano in 18 meetings in all competitions (W13 D5) since a 2-1 defeat in La Liga in January 1996, when Guilherme Alves scored twice
• Four of their last six encounters with Vallecano have been draws, with one of the two goalless stalemates along the way arriving at the Bernabeu in November 2023
• Cristiano Ronaldo is the top scorer in the history of the fixture with 12 goals, putting Madrid’s all-time top scorer ahead of the player second to him on that list, Karim Benzema, who has 11
• Vallecano have scored in six of their last eight meetings with Madrid, including four of the last five for a total of six goals
• They are yet to keep a clean sheet in four matches this season and have one in their last eight Liga games, although they have conceded one goal or fewer in four of those contests, with only Barcelona putting more than two past them
• Espanyol and Sevilla (67 each), Real Sociedad (62) and Racing Club (60) are the only sides to have committed more fouls in this season’s Liga than Vallecano (58)
• Only Elche (12) have conceded more goals than Vallecano (10), while Getafe and Sevilla are the only sides who can match their total of two red cards in the 2026/27 top flight
• With four goals in five games, Sergio Camello is the second-top scorer in this season’s division behind Barcelona’s Raphinha (6)

Where to watch Real Madrid v Vallecano: TV channel, live online streams

Kick-off on Saturday is at 20:00 BST (15:00 ET / 12:00 PT). In the UK, live coverage is on Disney Plus.

Live streaming on a vast range of devices is available on the Disney Plus app. Subscriptions in the UK cost between £5.99 and £14.99 monthly or £99.90-£149.90 annually.

Here’s the full list of La Liga international broadcasters. 

Real Madrid v Rayo Vallecano prediction

A high-scoring affair looks likely given Rayo’s capacity to entertain, but don’t expect them to show the defensive solidity required to take something from the Bernabeu.

Match Prediction

Real Madrid

3 – 2

Rayo Vallecano

La Liga table

La Liga 2026

Spain

#	Team	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Last 5
1	Barcelona	4	4	0	0	17	2	15	12	W W W W
2	Alaves	4	3	1	0	10	3	7	10	W W D W
3	Real Madrid	4	3	0	1	10	3	7	9	L W W W
4	Real Betis	4	3	0	1	5	5	0	9	W L W W
5	Deportivo La Coruna	4	2	2	0	8	5	3	8	W W D D
6	Sevilla	4	2	1	1	7	6	1	7	D L W W
7	Atletico Madrid	4	2	1	1	7	6	1	7	L W D W
8	Osasuna	4	2	1	1	5	6	-1	7	L W W D
9	Real Sociedad	5	2	1	2	6	8	-2	7	W D W L L
10	Athletic Club	4	2	0	2	6	5	1	6	W W L L
11	Levante	4	1	2	1	5	5	0	5	D W D L
12	Espanyol	4	1	1	2	6	5	1	4	D L L W
13	Racing Santander	4	1	1	2	7	8	-1	4	L W L D
14	Rayo Vallecano	4	1	1	2	7	10	-3	4	W L D L
15	Getafe	4	1	1	2	2	5	-3	4	D L W L
16	Celta Vigo	5	0	3	2	2	5	-3	3	D D L L D
17	Villarreal	4	0	2	2	6	8	-2	2	L L D D
18	Malaga	4	0	2	2	1	7	-6	2	D L D L
19	Elche	4	0	1	3	5	12	-7	1	L L L D
20	Valencia	4	0	1	3	1	9	-8	1	L L L D

• Position 1, 2, 3, 4 : Champions League league stage
• Position 5 : Europa League league stage
• Position 6 : ECL Playoffs
• Position 18, 19, 20 : Relegation