Rayo Vallecano stuns Atletico Madrid
Struggling Rayo Vallecano upset Atletico Madrid 3-0 in La Liga in a stunning win watched by only around 5,000 people because of a protest by Rayo fans. It was Atletico’s second consecutive Spanish league loss but came only three days after it had routed Barcelona 4-0 in the first leg of the Copa del Rey semifinals at home. Coach Diego Simeone rested some of his regular starters after Thursday’s match against Barcelona.
The result dropped Atletico to fourth place, behind Villarreal, Barcelona and Real Madrid, which won 4-1 at Real Sociedad on Saturday. Atletico trails Madrid by 15 points after 24 rounds. Barcelona can retake the lead and move one point ahead of Madrid if it wins at Girona on Monday. “It feels like we’ve given up in the league,” Atletico goalkeeper Jan Oblak said. “We can’t lose games like this and play like this.
It’s going to be difficult to compete this way. You can’t choose games, you always have to play at your best, you have to win, and I get the feeling we’re not doing that.” Simeone did not agree with Oblak’s comments that appeared to suggest it was a mistake to rest players. “The team isn’t choosing games,” Simeone said. “We competed poorly, and when you compete poorly, the opponent plays better than you and beats you.”
Rayo, which hadn’t beaten Atletico in 19 straight games since 2013, moved out of the relegation zone with the victory, which ended a four-game losing streak for the team in all competitions. The match was played at Butarque Stadium, home of second-division club Leganes in Madrid, because the field at Rayo’s Vallecas Stadium remained in poor condition after the grass had to be fully replaced.
Rayo’s home game against Oviedo last weekend had to be postponed on short notice because of the field condition. Rayo fans have been upset with club president Raul Martin Presa and called for a boycott of the game against Atletico. Hundreds of Rayo fans protested outside Vallecas Stadium hours before Sunday’s match at Butarque, chanting and showing banners calling for Presa’s resignation.
Rayo players, along with Spain’s players’ association, had complained about the conditions being offered by the club to the squad. About 5,300 fans attended the match at Butarque, which had many empty seats. Butarque holds about 12,000 fans in southern Madrid. Rayo’s previous last league win was 2-1 against Mallorca in January. “We always prefer to have the fans close to us, but we respect their decision,” Rayo defender Andrei Ratiu said.
“We’ve made some complaints, and hopefully little by little things will get done, because that would be beneficial for everyone.” Ratiu assisted in Fran Perez’s opener in the 40th minute. Oscar Valentin added to the lead in the 45th and Nobel Mendy sealed the victory in the 76th. Atletico was coming off a 1-0 home loss to Real Betis in the Spanish league.
Chaotic end to Valencia derby: Valencia scored twice in the second half to win 2-0 at city rival Levante. The match ended in a brawl after Valencia player Eray Comert put a jersey over the corner flag and started to celebrate near Valencia fans. That prompted Levante staff to confront him. There was some shoving from both sides and Levante fans threw objects from the stands.
Comert, who reportedly got hit by a plastic bottle, later said he didn’t mean to provoke anyone. Valencia coach Carlos Corberan apologized. Largie Ramazani and Umar Sadiq scored for the visitors. The result, which ended a three-game losing streak for Valencia across all competitions, moved the club out of the relegation zone and up to 14th place. Levante, which has only one win in six league matches, stayed in 19th place.
Betis wins: Fifth-place Real Betis picked up its fourth win in five matches across all competitions by beating Mallorca 2-1 on the road with first-half goals from Abde Ezzalzouli and Cedric Bakambu. Vedat Muriqi got one back for Mallorca in the second half. Mallorca remained in the relegation zone after its third loss in four games.
Athletic rallies: Second-half goals by Mikel Jauregizar and Oihan Sancet gave ninth-place Athletic Bilbao a 2-1 win at last-place Oviedo, which had led at halftime after a 30th-minute goal by lyas Chaira. Athletic has won three of its last four matches. It lost 1-0 at home to Basque Country rival Real Sociedad on Wednesday in the first leg of the Copa semifinals. Oviedo had beaten Girona 1-0 at home in the previous round to end a 15-game winless streak.
