Real Madrid traveled to the Estadio de Vallecas to take on Rayo Vallecano, where the Merengues were held to a 1-1 draw.
Despite the draw, Real Madrid still sits at the top of the table with a 6-point lead over Girona, who were defeated in a close contest against Athletic Bilbao. However, Los Blancos would be disappointed not to take home the three points.
The game started in the best possible way after Madrid opened up the Rayo defense which led Fede Valverde to find Joselu inside the box who put the ball inside the net with a good finish. The Spaniard scored again in the half but it was ruled out due to an offside.
In the 26th minute, a shot by Óscar Trejo, which appeared to be heading out for a possible corner, had actually deflected off Eduardo Camavinga’s hand. This led to the home side being awarded a penalty.
Raúl de Tomás – former Real Madrid striker – who was goalless in 17 games of the season, scored his first goal against his former side to equalize from the penalty spot for the home team.
The second half was frustrating, to say the least, as it was dominated by the Merengues. However, the players were just unable to score a goal. These were the kind of chances that a certain Jude Bellingham may have converted if he had been present.
The best chance came in the 80th minute when Dimitrievski palmed the ball to safety from a Toni Kroos free kick which almost curled straight into the top left corner.
Dani Carvajal, who did not start, came on in the 75th minute and ended up getting a double yellow card in stoppage time. As a result, the Spaniard is now ruled out of the important fixture against Sevilla at the Bernabeu on matchday 26.
Moreover, Camavinga will also be suspended for that game as the Frenchman has accumulated five yellow cards. The absence of Carvajal and Camavinga adds to the woes of Ancelotti as he will be without Bellingham, Carvajal, Camavinga, and possibly Rüdiger for that fixture.
The draw did not hurt much as far as the points table is concerned but the men in white would surely feel like they missed a golden chance to take a possible 9-point lead due to Girona’s loss against Bilbao.
But based on the form of the other three sides in the top 4, it would be fair to say that Real Madrid still have the upper hand in the La Liga title race and would look to make amends with a win against Sevilla.
