Full match player ratings below:
Andriy Lunin—6.5: Rarely tested with only two saves on the day. Good distribution aside from one early pass that put Camavinga in trouble.
Lucas Vazquez—6: Produced a lovely cross to Joselu for a goal but the ball was rightly called out of bounds. Struggled at times with the overloads by Alfonso Espino and Alvaro Garcia.
Tchouameni—7: Another strong performance from the center back position. Made a crucial block on an RDT shot following a Lunin-Camavinga poor interchange. Won all of his ground duels and was dominant in the air.
Nacho—6: A fine game from Nacho who was rarely tested defensively.
Fran Garcia—5: More expected of Fran offensively, never gelled with Vini down the left flank.
Eduardo Camavinga—6: Positioned as one of the deepest midfielders and failed to put his stamp on the match. Best moments came when he opted for a ball-carrying option after being pressed by Rayo.
Fede Valverde—8: Provided a perfect assist to Joselu early in the first half after exploiting the open space in front of him in transition. Trademark Fede moment. One of the few bright spots from a poor game.
Luka Modric—5: Surprised the Croatian lasted as long as he did – 87 minutes – as he was the least impactful midfielder on the day. Needs continuity and rhythm to play at his best and unlikely to get that in this new-look Madrid squad.
Vinicius Junior—5.5: Only 44 touches in the match, below his average of 55+ and completed just half of his attempted passes. It never clicked for Vini and his influence waned the longer the match went on.
Brahim Diaz—5.5: Like Vinicuis, had very few touches (40) and could not replicate the form he showed in Germany during the mid-week match.
Joselu—7: A very good opening 25 minutes where he got on the scoresheet to put away his 8th goal of the season and some nice flick combinations to break Rayo’s lines. Faded out of the game as Rayo grew into the match.
Substitutions:
Toni Kroos—7: Near perfect after coming on and tried to change the tide of the match but likely should have come on earlier — only had 20 minutes.
Rodyrgo—5.5: Like the other offensive players in this match, never truly got going and did not have a single shot during his 20 minutes on the pitch.
Dani Carvajal—3: Received a needless double yellow card and will be suspended for the Sevilla match.
Arda Guler—N/A: Came in at the 87th minute with no time to make a real impact on the match.
Hasibur Rahaman is a passionate sports journalist. He covers everything from cricket to field hockey, delivering up-to-the-minute updates and in-depth analysis of sporting events, both within India and on the international stage.
