Real Madrid host European hopefuls Rayo Vallecano on Sunday in a game that could have important ramifications for their season.
Los Blancos were beaten 2-1 by Real Betis last weekend to hand an advantage to Barcelona and Atletico Madrid in the title race, and this fixture takes place in between the two legs of their UEFA Champions League last-16 tie with their city rivals.
Carlo Ancelotti is therefore under pressure to find a balance between ensuring his team is strong enough to see off Rayo while preserving some energy for the visit to the Metropolitano on Wednesday. Madrid hold a 2-1 lead from the first leg.
Rayo came into this matchday in seventh place in the standings and very much in the race for the European places.
The Jugo Mobile is following the Real Madrid vs. Rayo Vallecano match live, providing score updates and commentary
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Real Madrid vs. Rayo Vallecano live score
| Score (2H) | Goal scorers | |
| Real Madrid | 2 | Mbappe (30′),Vinicius Jr (34′) |
| Rayo Vallecano | 1 | P. Diaz (45+2′) |
Venue: Santiago Bernabeu, Madrid (Spain)Referee: Francisco Jose Hernandez Maeso
Starting lineups:
Real Madrid (4-2-3-1, right to left): 13. Andriy Lunin (GK) — 17. Lucas Vazquez, 35. Raul Asencio, 4. David Alaba, 20. Fran Garcia — 10. Luka Modric, 14. Aurelien Tchouameni — 11. Rodrygo (Valverde, 68′), 5. Jude Bellingham, 7. Vinicius Jr. — 9. Kylian Mbappe.
Rayo Vallecano (5-4-1, right to left, predicted): 13. Augusto Batalla (GK) — 2. Andrei Ratiu, 24. Florian Lejeune, 5. Aridane Hernandez, 15. Gerard Gumbau, 3. Pep Chavarria — 21. Adrian Embarba, 4. Pedro Diaz, 6. Pathe Ciss, 22. Alfonso Espino — 18. Alvaro Garcia.
Real Madrid vs. Rayo Vallecano live updates, highlights, and commentary
68th min: This game is still in the balance, but Carlo Ancelotti has a big Champions League match to consider midweek as well. He makes his first move here, taking off Rodrygo and replacing him with Federico Valverde who moves into midfield.
63rd min: Gerard Gumbau picks up the first yellow card of the match as he’s burned by Aurelien Tchouameni and throws himself into a late challenge to try and stop the move.
54th min: Chance, Real Madrid! Kylian Mbappe misses!! It’s a classic Mbappe move, taking on Aridane Hernandez one-on-one cutting in from the left, but he fires his shot wide of the near post!
53rd min: It’s been a drab start to the second half. Lot of possession for both teams, very little happening. That will suit the visitors at this point in the match with a lot of time to kill.
2nd half kickoff: They’re back under way at the Bernabeu, with no changes for either side just yet. Real Madrid were good for their one-goal lead, but they have to be sharper if they want to avoid a shock result.
HALFTIME: Real Madrid 2-1 Rayo Vallecano
A totally dominant half by Real Madrid, but one with its lapses in concentration as well. The hosts were excellent on both an individual and collective basis, with Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Jr. combining well on multiple occasions as they both found the scoresheet.
However, they were also vulnerable on the other end, and committed a number of individual errors. Andriy Lunin was less than convincing in goal, and the back line seemed disjointed defending Rayo’s long-ball approach. It was great hold-up play on such a moment that led to their late first-half goal, which makes this game much more interesting at the break.
45+2 min: GOAL! RAYO VALLECANO! Oh my goodness, what a moment for the visitors just before halftime! A sensational strike from Pedro Diaz evades Andriy Lunin and strikes the underside of the post, cannoning down over the line!
At first, the goal is not given by the referee and Lunin scrambles the ball clear ahead of the charging attacker, but a VAR review shows the ball clearly went over the line! There’s no goal-line technology in La Liga, but none is needed there, as the replay does the job!
34th min: GOAL! REAL MADRID! Vinicius Jr. says anything Mbappe can do I can do better! The Brazilian takes the ball from the same angle as his French teammate minutes before, just a bit closer to goal, and all it takes are a few step overs to wrong-foot Andrei Ratiu and create space for the shot.
The ball takes a slight deflection off Ratiu’s foot and leaves the goalkeeper with no chance!
INCREDIBLE SOLO GOAL BY VINICIUS TO MAKE IT 2-0 REAL MADRID!
UNREAL ? pic.twitter.com/wCIz7R99QO
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) March 9, 2025
32nd min: Chance, Rayo! What a great save by Andriy Lunin! The visitors create a chance from nothing on a long ball, and Adrian Embarba is able to get space for a long-distance shot with the two-on-four chance. It’s low and to the goalkeeper’s right, but Lunin gets down to save it well!
30th min: GOAL! REAL MADRID! Kylian Mbappe opens the scoring moments after Rayo’s first real chance! He gets fed through from the left and then takes the rest of it himself, putting Florian Lejune into a blender and firing the ball into the back of the net!
KYLIAN MBAPPÉ GIVES REAL MADRID THE LEAD VS. RAYO VALLECANO!
ON FIRE FOR MADRID!! ? pic.twitter.com/arR3aMRsdH
— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) March 9, 2025
27th min: Chance, Rayo! A good move forward by the visitors sees Andriy Lunin parry an Alvaro Garcia shot right into the mixer, which falls right at the feet of Gerard Gumbau. The Rayo midfielder lashes his foot at it from 15 yards out, with a huge chance to score, but it takes a massive deflection off Raul Asencio’s knee and goes wide for a corner!
The initial save was poor considering it was sent right back into the middle of the penalty area.
23rd min: SHEESH, Raul Asencio with one of the most shocking no-look back-passes you’ll ever see, which wrong-foots Andriy Lunin and leaves him chasing the ball, but it harmlessly skitters just wide of the post. That could have been an incredibly embarrassing moment for the young Real Madrid defender, but instead it just concedes a corner which Rayo Vallecano waste. Let off the hook!
13th min: Chance, Real Madrid! VINICIUS JR. HITS THE POST! Rodrygo surges forward down the right before cutting it back to Jude Bellingham, where the England international dummies it wonderfully for Vinicius! The latter fires a low shot which strikes the post and comes out!
Upon review, the goalkeeper Batalla got a touch on the ball to push it off the woodwork, WHAT a key save!
12th min: What on earth is Augusto Batalla doing??? The Rayo goalkeeper comes way out of goal to clean up, but takes far too long to get rid of the ball, and ends up in real trouble out near the touchline. He’s allowed to get away with it only as Real Madrid don’t pounce with numbers, so Vini is left to chase two players, but wow that was nervy as the goalkeeper tried to dribble and maintain possession while fighting off the one-man press!
10th min: Kylian Mbappe and Vinicius Jr. combine two individual moves together to create a near-opportunity for Real Madrid, but it doesn’t quite come off. Vini especially was impressive as he drove along the end line with a beautiful bit of individual skill, but his fizzed cross along the face of goal is cleared away before a white shirt can reach it.
4th min: Real Madrid have begun on the front foot and are cooking in the attacking third. It hasn’t resulted in any major scoring chances yet, but already the hosts look the more likely to score, and you wonder how long Rayo can go absorbing this kind of intense penalty area pressure.
Kickoff: They’re under way at the iconic Bernabeu! Real Madrid can pass second-placed Atletico Madrid, who were stunned by two late Getafe goals, with a win.
Los Blancos cannot go top of the La Liga table with a win due to their significantly inferior goal differential, but they can draw level with Barcelona on points and put the pressure on the leaders!
Lowkey, this is a HUGE result in the razor-thin La Liga title race pic.twitter.com/vSE30ywacC
— Kyle Bonn (@the_bonnfire) March 9, 2025
Real Madrid vs. Rayo Vallecano: Pre-match commentary, analysis, more
15 mins to kickoff: The Santiago Bernabeu is one of the most iconic venues in world football. Its most recent renovation has it looking more modern than ever!
✨?️✨ pic.twitter.com/AjkOP5aegK
— Real Madrid C.F. ???? (@realmadriden) March 9, 2025
30 mins to kickoff: It’s certainly interesting to see Carlo Ancelotti prioritize the league title race in this manner, while others around him rest a significant number of players. His attacking trio all start today, while Barcelona were set to rest Robert Lewandowski (before their match was postponed) and Atletico Madrid hooked Julian Alvarez and Antoine Griezmann soon after halftime.
If Madrid look tired in their Champions League second leg midweek, it could bring criticism on the manager.
45 mins to kickoff: According to a report by Dario AS, Thibaut Courtois has been dealing with some pain in his knee over the last few weeks, and thus has earned rest whenever possible. This would explain why Courtois isn’t even in the squad today, with Andriy Lunin getting the start.
1 hour to kickoff: The Rayo Vallecano lineup is in, and it appears head coach Inigo Perez has changed to a back five, hoping to use the extra defender to deal with the fearsome Real Madrid front line.
1 hour 15 mins to kick: As always, we have the Real Madrid lineup excessively early, and it sees Carlo Ancelotti make a few changes to the squad given the simultaneous Champions League matchup.
The club’s big three attackers all start, which is a bit of a surprise, but Andriy Lunin is rotated into the goalkeeping role with Thibaut Courtois not even in the squad to get some rest. Eduardo Camavinga begins on the bench, as does Federico Valverde.
1 hour 30 mins to kick: Speaking of the top of the La Liga table, Atletico Madrid are in action right now on the road against Getafe, scoreless through the first half.
All three teams at the top of the standings are also in the midst of their Champions League Round of 16 matchups, in varying degrees of concern. Real Madrid lead their cross-town rivals 2-1 after a tense first leg at the Bernabeu, while Barcelona are 1-0 up on Benfica.
It adds a degree of spice to the already piping hot La Liga title race which has all three clubs within three points of each other at the summit of the standings.
1 hour 45 mins to kick: The big news in La Liga yesterday was the sudden postponement of Barcelona’s match against Osasuna due to the death of the club’s team doctor. Real Madrid offered their condolences to their El Clasico rivals, understanding when a situation is about more than football.
It also means that Real Madrid can draw level with Barcelona at the top of the league table with a win today, albeit having played an extra game.
2 hours before kickoff: This is a big test for Real Madrid today: can they see off a European hopeful while keeping something in the tank for the Champions League next week?
?️ @David_Alaba? @Endrick pic.twitter.com/TURL3YeS2x
— Real Madrid C.F. ???? (@realmadriden) March 8, 2025
Real Madrid vs. Rayo Vallecano kick off time
The match kicks off in Madrid, Spain at 4:15 p.m. local time.
Here’s how that time translates across some of the major territories:
| Date | Kickoff time | |
| USA | Sun, March 9 | 11:15 p.m. ET |
| Canada | Sun, March 9 | 11:15 p.m. ET |
| UK | Sun, March 9 | 3:15 p.m. GMT |
| Australia | Mon, March 1 | 2:15 a.m. AEDT |
| India | Sun, March 9 | 8:45 p.m. IST |
Real Madrid vs. Rayo Vallecano lineups, team news
Jude Bellingham returns after sitting out the Betis and Atletico games through separate suspensions, with Ancelotti deciding not to save him for the second leg next week and reward Brahim Diaz with another start.
There were suggestions Kylian Mbappe could be rested, but he starts alongside fellow stars Vinicius Junior and Rodrygo. Lucas Vazquez comes in for Federico Valverde, and Ancelotti has made changes to the midfield.
Eduardo Camavinga, whose place in the team to face Atleti next week is uncertain, sits in this match too, with Aurelien Tchouameni in the side and Luka Modric wearing the captain’s armband. Antonio Rudiger is not in the squad amidst reports that he is ill.
Real Madrid starting lineup (4-2-3-1, right to left): Lunin (GK) — Vazquez, Asencio, Alaba, Garcia — Modric, Tchouameni — Rodrygo, Bellingham, Vinicius Jr. — Mbappe.
Real Madrid subs: Mestre (GK), F. Gonzalez (GK), Mendy, Camavinga, Valverde, Guler, B. Diaz, Endrick.
There are doubts around the fitness of Isi Palazon, Unai Lopez and Sergio Camello, while Raul De Tomas also misses out amid conflicting reports about his injury status. Lopez makes the bench, but all others miss out.
Inigo Perez has made a number of changes from the side that drew 1-1 with Sevilla last time out, without Abdul Mumin who went off in the first half of that match and could miss out. The manager has installed an extra defender in Gerard Gumbau, while Alvaro Garcia wears the captain’s armband and leads the line.
Winger Jorge de Frutos will serve the second game of his red card suspension for being sent off against Villarreal just before halftime.
Rayo Vallecano starting lineup (5-4-1, right to left): Batalla (GK) — Ratiu, Lejeune, Gumbau, A. Hernandez, Chavarria — Embarba, P. Diaz, Ciss, Espino — A. Garcia.
Rayo Vallecano subs: Cardenas (GK), Balliu, P. Fernandez, de la Sias, Trejo, Valentin, U. Lopez, Pineda, Guardiola.
Real Madrid vs. Rayo Vallecano live stream, TV channel
Here’s how to watch this La Liga match across selected areas of the world’s major regions:
