Kylian Mbappe scored two goals and an assist and Jude Bellingham scored his third of the season to help Real Madrid move into second place in La Liga and maintain their perfect run in La Liga this season with a win over Rayo Vallecano at home.
Last season’s La Liga top scorer converted a penalty in the 14th minute after Florian Lejeune tripped Alvaro Carreras and allowed the left-back to shoot from inside the box three minutes later.
bellingham Vallecano responded in the 35th minute after receiving a pass from Vinicius and firing a third from the edge of the area, but Sergio Carmelo scored his sixth goal in four games.
Mbappe added a fourth goal in the 91st minute with a low shot that ended a counterattack as Real Madrid ensured they won all four of their home games in all competitions this season, although they Lost to Betis 0-1 September 4 means they are level on points with leaders Barcelona but with fewer games to play.
Madrid vs Rayo Vallecano: Mbappe wins La Liga double
Mbappe might have had a second goal in first-half stoppage time but his shot hit the post and Rayo Vallecano’s Pedro Diaz followed up from distance shortly after the restart.
Late in the second half, Arda Guler’s free-kick was headed against the crossbar by Denzel Dumfries, with goalkeeper Emile Arturo making a fine save as Arturo’s side finished admirably with 18 shots on goal.
Rayo Vallecano still has four points and their next game will be at home to Espanyol in La Liga on Tuesday (18:00 BST). Madrid visits Elche that evening (20:30).
Real Madrid vs Rayo Vallecano
Real Madrid made four changes as they beat Inter Milan 2-1 at home in the Champions League on Tuesday, including a full debut for £120million winger Jan Diomande.
Defender Antonio Rudiger, midfielder Bernardo Silva and Carreras also return.
Real Madrid starting lineup: Thibaut Courtois, Denzel Dumfries, Ibrahima Konate, Antonio Rudiger, Alvaro Carreras, Bernardo Silva, Federico Valverde, Jan Diomande, Jude Bellingham, Vinicius Junior, Kylian Mbappe
Madrid substitutes: Andre Lunin, Raul Asensio, Dean Huyson, Eduardo Camavinga, Endric, Trent Alexander-Arnold, Aureliano Chumaneni, Arda Güler, Marc Cucurella, Carlos Espy, Brahim Diaz, Thiago Pitacci
Rayo Vallecano vs Madrid
Rayo Vallecano made three adjustments based on the 3-2 home victory over Atlético a week ago, introducing goalkeeper Emil Odero, midfielder Nagoro Buare and winger Giorgio Tsitsvili.
Rayo Vallecano starting lineup: Emile Odero, Andre Ratiu, Florian Lejeune, Pat Sis, Adria Pedrosa, Unai Lopez, Nagoro Buare, Pedro Diaz, Jorge de Frutos, Sergio Carmelo, Alvaro Garcia
Substitute for Rayo Vallecano: Adrian Molina, Danny Cardenas, Alemao, Mujad Sadiq, Ivan Baliu, Pelayo Fernandez, Marco de las Sias, Marash Kumbra, Oscar Valentin, Samu Becerra, Marco Roman
Madrid VS Rayo Vallecano statistics
- Madrid are unbeaten in their last eight meetings with Rayo Vallecano (W4 D4) and have won their last three home games
- Their only defeat in their last 11 games since April 2019 was a 2-3 away defeat in La Liga in November 2022
- Real Madrid have lost 19 times at home to Rayo Vallecano in all competitions since a 2-1 defeat in La Liga in January 1996 (14 wins, 5 draws), when Guillerme Alves scored twice
- Four of their six previous meetings with Rayo Vallecano have been draws, with one of the two goalless draws arriving at the Bernabeu in November 2023
- Cristiano Ronaldo is the competition’s all-time top scorer with 12 goals, moving Real Madrid’s all-time top scorer ahead of second-placed player Karim Benzema, who has 11 goals
- Rayo Vallecano has scored 7 goals in the past 9 games with Real Madrid, including 5 goals in the past 6 games, for a total of 7 goals
- They have yet to keep a clean sheet in five games this season and have kept just one in their past nine La Liga games, although they have conceded one goal or less in four of those games, with only Barcelona and Madrid surpassing them by more than two goals.
- Espanyol and Sevilla (67 each), Real Sociedad (62) and Atlético (60) are the teams that have committed more fouls than Rayo Vallecano (58) in La Liga this season.
- Only Elche (12) has conceded more goals than Rayo Vallecano (10), while Getafe and Sevilla are the only teams to equal their two red card tally in the top flight in 2026/27.
- Only Barcelona’s Rafinha (6) has scored as many goals as Carmelo in the league this season