Real Madrid host Rayo Vallecano at the Santiago Bernabéu on Saturday night (21:00 CEST) on Matchday 5 of La Liga, and the table has already taken away the comfort a home game against the side in 14th would normally bring.
Madrid sit third on nine points from four. Barcelona have twelve from four, with 17 goals scored and two conceded, and go to Levante on Sunday. Alavés, second on ten, play at Racing Santander this afternoon. A win tonight takes Madrid to twelve, and depending on what happens at El Sardinero leaves them either level with the leaders or a point behind Alavés.
The margin went at Betis last Friday. Madrid put eight shots on target at La Cartuja, saw a Carlos Espí equaliser ruled out by VAR, and then watched Álvaro Valles save Kylian Mbappé's stoppage-time penalty. Troy Parrott's 81st-minute goal stood, and Madrid had lost one of their opening four league games for the first time since 2014/15.
They responded by beating Inter 2-1 in the Champions League on Tuesday, but Inter had 64 per cent of the ball and 21 shots, and José Mourinho said afterwards he would rather have won with control. Saturday is the third game in nine days, and he has been open about what that means.
"Maybe rotation isn't the right word, but there will be room for fresh energy," he said on Friday. "We have many more options because we have fresh legs."
He has them. Camavinga, Bernardo Silva and Arda Güler all return after missing Inter through suspension, Raúl Asencio is in a squad for the first time this season, and Tchouaméni, Endrick and Thiago Pitarch are available again. Militão, Ferland Mendy and Rodrygo remain the only absentees.
Mbappé has scored five in five this season, including the hat-trick that beat Real Sociedad 4-1 on Mourinho's first night back at the Bernabéu. Jude Bellingham has two goals and two league assists.
Rayo come with a first win of the season and not much else intact. They beat Racing Santander 3-2 last Saturday, coming from behind twice through Andrei Ratiu and a Sergio Camello brace, but finished the afternoon with three red cards. Jorge de Frutos, sent off from the bench for protesting after being substituted, is banned for two games. Fran Pérez, dismissed for an elbow, misses one. Both play on the right side of the attack.
"We're down to the bare bones to put a squad together," Beñat San José said on Thursday, after Nteka pulled up in training and with Isi Palazón, Luiz Felipe and Augusto Batalla already out. "Given that there was no insult from Jorge de Frutos, I think two matches is too much. In one of the best leagues in the world, missing two matches is a big deal for a player."
The Racing game was not even played at Vallecas. The Comunidad de Madrid has closed the stadium over the condition of the facility, so Rayo's home fixture went to Leganés, in front of 4,529, after a march through the neighbourhood against the club's president. San José has said he wants back "to the home of our fans". Until then, a Saturday night in the Bernabéu is the closest thing to a full house his players will get.
He is not planning to sit in it. "We'll try to compete with our own style of play," he said, and when asked which Madrid player he would take out of the game, he picked none. "I'd remove Mourinho. He's one of the best coaches in the history of football."
Madrid won this fixture 2-1 in February and drew 0-0 at Vallecas last season. Víctor García Verdura is the referee.
