Real Madrid has moved level on points with FC Barcelona at the top of La Liga after a narrow 2-1 victory over Rayo Vallecano on Sunday in the 27th matchday. Mbappé and Vinicius, both scorers, led their team to success.
Real Madrid secured the essential win against Rayo Vallecano (2-1). The visitors arrived with ambitious intentions, pressing and playing high, but also exposing themselves to the speed of the Madrid attack. Vinicius hit the post in the 15th minute with a powerful shot that was deflected just enough by the goalkeeper, before Mbappé followed up with an attempt that was too central. Ten minutes later, as Madrid controlled the game, Asensio came close to scoring one of the craziest own goals of the season with a powerful back-pass that narrowly missed Lunin’s post. The Madrid defender then made an important clearance to deny Gumbau’s dangerous attempt that was heading towards the goal (27′). Rayo Vallecano lacked luck, unlike Kylian Mbappé, who opened the scoring with a brilliant dribble inside past Lejeune (29′). Two minutes later, Vinicius followed suit with a sublime goal, brilliantly eliminating two defenders with ease. Heading toward halftime, Pedro Diaz brought some suspense back into the game with a powerful shot that hit the crossbar before going in with exceptional force (45+3′).
The first opportunity of the second half came for Mbappé. The Frenchman pulled his shot too wide and missed the chance for a double (55′). That was one of the few chances in a second half that was much less thrilling. The score at halftime would remain the same until the end of the match. Real Madrid is now tied with Barcelona at the top of the La Liga table and will face Atlético Madrid on Wednesday for the return leg of the Champions League round of 16.
After this Real Madrid – Rayo Vallecano match, here’s the current La Liga standings. The Madrid side is now level on points with Barcelona, both with 57 points. They’ve moved ahead of their neighbors Atlético Madrid, who were beaten at Getafe earlier in the day (1-2). Atlético is now one point behind both Madrid and Barcelona, the latter having one match in hand.