The Real Madrid Rayo Vallecano team news is starting to look unusually lopsided. Los Blancos welcome Rayo to the Santiago Bernabeu on Saturday for matchday five of La Liga with a defender back in the group and three more bodies close to full sharpness — while Benat San Jose brings a side he himself describes as travelling “en cuadro”, down to the bare bones.
Real Madrid Rayo Vallecano team news: Asencio back in the group
Madrid completed their penultimate session before the game behind closed doors at Valdebebas on Thursday morning, and the headline was Raul Asencio walking out with the rest of the squad, per Mundo Deportivo. The centre-back has been out since late July with a muscle injury to the rectus femoris in his right leg, and we covered the detail of his return to training ahead of the Rayo match earlier today.
Aurelien Tchouameni, Endrick and Thiago Pitarch were all involved again too. The three rejoined group work last Sunday and made the squad for the Champions League opener, but only Tchouameni got on the pitch — ten minutes, replacing Trent Alexander-Arnold — after Jose Mourinho admitted beforehand that none of them yet had the miles in their legs to start. Our reaction to the 2-1 win over Inter Milan has the full picture of that night.
Rodrygo (knee) and Ferland Mendy (thigh) remain long-term absentees, and Eder Militao is still working back from hamstring surgery. Madrid go into the weekend with nine points from four league games — wins over Espanyol, Real Sociedad and Malaga, and that 1-0 stumble at Real Betis — plus a winning start in Europe.
Formula 1 forces Mourinho out of Valdebebas
There is one very Madrid wrinkle to the build-up. The city’s Formula 1 Grand Prix takes place this weekend on a circuit that sits next door to Ciudad Real Madrid, and the squad have already been training to a soundtrack of engines. Friday’s session will be closed, with the media denied the customary opening fifteen minutes, and Mourinho’s pre-match press conference has been moved to the Bernabeu rather than Valdebebas, Mundo Deportivo reports. It had even been rumoured the Portuguese might skip the media entirely; in the end, the presser goes ahead.
Rayo arrive at the Bernabeu ‘en cuadro’
The visitors’ list is the longer one by some distance. Benat San Jose confirmed to Marca that winger Isi Palazon is still recovering from a muscle problem and goalkeeper Augusto Batalla is out after surgery on a fractured right tibia. Fran Perez and Jorge de Frutos are both suspended following red cards against Racing de Santander, and Angolan forward Randy Nteka picked up a muscle injury in training this week.
Right-back Ivan Balliu is a serious doubt after a heavy challenge in that Racing game: “His ankle is in a bad way, but he is brave and he is doing everything he can to make it,” his coach said. Raul de Tomas, who could not find a move in the summer, will definitely not feature for reasons San Jose called institutional. Several of Rayo’s late signings, he added, are simply not conditioned to start yet.
One arrival is closer. Marash Kumbulla, on loan from Roma and yet to debut, trained on both Tuesday and Wednesday and could make the squad, per Marca.
‘I would take Mourinho away’
Rayo come off their first league win of the season and San Jose is refusing to shrink. “We are going to compete with our own identity,” he said. “We are a very complete team and we have to show it.” Asked which single Madrid asset he would remove, he did not pick a forward: “I would take Mourinho away. He is one of the best coaches in history. But not only him — they also have a striker and a goalkeeper who are the best in the world.” He was equally blunt about his own side: “We urgently need to improve defensively.”
Madridistas will remember why that matters. Last season Rayo held Madrid to 1-1 at the Bernabeu until stoppage time, when Kylian Mbappe settled it from the penalty spot. A depleted squad has not stopped this fixture being awkward before.
