Real Madrid vs Rayo Vallecano closes out Saturday night in La Liga, and for once José Mourinho walks into a matchday with something approaching a full deck. The Bernabéu hosts the capital derby at 21:00 CEST — 20:00 in the UK — on Matchday 5, with Los Blancos needing a league win to steady a start that has already cost them ground.
Madrid sit third on nine points after the stumble against Real Betis at La Cartuja, and they arrive fresh from a 2-1 Champions League win over Inter Milan. Rayo, 14th in the table, come with a 3-2 win over Racing behind them and a treatment room that has emptied out far less kindly than Mourinho’s.
Real Madrid vs Rayo Vallecano: the predicted lineup
Marca expect Mourinho to line up like this: Courtois; Dumfries, Konaté, Huijsen, Cucurella; Camavinga, Bernardo Silva; Güler, Bellingham, Vinícius; Mbappé.
The headline in that XI is the midfield. Eduardo Camavinga, Arda Güler and Bernardo Silva were all suspended for the Inter game, and all three are available again — three effective signings handed back to a manager who has spent the opening month of the season juggling seven absentees per matchday. Notably, that projected side leaves out both captain Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni, which tells you how seriously the rotation question is being taken after Wednesday’s European effort.
Rayo’s probable eleven, per the same preview: Cárdenas; Ratiu, Lejeune, Ciss, Pedrosa; Valentín, Bouaré; Tsitaishvili, Unai López, Álvaro García; Camello.
Team news: Asencio back, three still sidelined
The good news at Valdebebas is Raúl Asencio. The defender has come through a couple of full sessions with the group and is back in Mourinho’s confirmed squad for the Rayo game, even if he is unlikely to start straight back into the back four.
The long-term picture is unchanged. Éder Militão, Rodrygo and Ferland Mendy all remain out injured, which is why Mourinho is expected to keep faith with essentially the same defensive line that started in midweek: Denzel Dumfries at right-back, Ibrahima Konaté alongside Dean Huijsen, and Marc Cucurella on the left.
Rayo, by contrast, travel across the city in a genuine mess. Beñat San José is without Jorge de Frutos and Fran Pérez, both suspended after red cards last time out, while Isi Palazón, Nteka, Luiz Felipe, Batalla and Vertrouwd are all injured. Kumbulla and Balliu are listed as doubts. For a squad of Rayo’s size, losing that many first-teamers before a trip to the Bernabéu is close to the worst-case scenario.
What is actually at stake
More than three points, if you listen to the mood around the ground. The Bernabéu has not hidden its impatience with the football this season, and Vinícius Júnior in particular heard it last weekend — a reaction Mourinho pushed back on firmly in his press conference, arguing that people only throw stones at the trees that bear fruit.
A comfortable home win against a depleted Rayo side would do a lot to quieten that. Anything less and the noise gets louder, with a demanding run to come: three league fixtures in nine days, ending at the Metropolitano. Mourinho has 22 available players for that stretch and has already signalled he intends to use them, talking about giving minutes to fresh legs while resting others.
For now, the simple version. Real Madrid vs Rayo Vallecano, Santiago Bernabéu, Saturday 12 September, 21:00 CEST / 20:00 BST. Mourinho finally has choices. The crowd would quite like to see him get them right.
