Francisco’s Rayo wants to look towards Europe
Benitez’s men need to win to climb positions
El Rayo, who have not won in Vallecas since September 15, receives Celta de Vigo with the aim of ending that bad streakwho is having the worst start to the season in eighty years and arrives at the meeting with his coach, Rafa Benítez, increasingly questioned.
The Madrid team, after the victory conceded last day in San Mamés against Athletic, He hopes to forget that fateful match and give his fans a victory that would be important for several reasons.mainly for putting an end to the bad league streak at home and secondly for continuing to expand the lead with relegation, their true objective this season.
El Rayo, which this week reached the round of 32 of the Copa del Rey after eliminating Yeclano Deportivolives in a comfortable position in the middle of the table but wants to add three points that will also allow it to get closer to the European zone that Betis currently marks with 26, seven above them.
Francisco Rodríguez has for this match the important loss for the left back of the Uruguayan Luis Alfonso ‘Pacha’ Espinowho will be replaced by his natural replacement, Pep Chavarría.
That might not be the only news in Rayo since Argentine Oscar Trejo could start in the midfield instead of Unai López and Raúl de Tomás, after his goal in Yeclano, could play as a starter to the detriment of Sergio Camello.
Opposite is the worst Celta in the last 80 years, with only one victory in fifteen daysis ending the patience of Celtismo, who fired him with a loud whistle after failing to draw against Cádiz in a match in which he played 70 minutes with one more player.
“I’m thinking all day long to find the key.“, confessed in the preview the coach Rafa Benítez, in whom the new president, Marián Mouriño, continues to trust after signing a contract for three seasons last summer.
What is clear is that Mallorca’s victory this day against Sevilla puts even more pressure on Celta before their visit to Vallecas. The team is paying for its disastrous sports planning, without the physical midfielder that Benítez demanded so much, without a right back to provide depth and with center backs of the same profile.
Celta’s terrible start to the League also contrasts with that of its subsidiary, leader of group I of the First Federation after losing last summer the backbone of the team that competed in the promotion phase to Second. Celta Fortuna would currently achieve, on its own merits, the long-awaited promotion to the silver category that President Carlos Mouriño so dreamed of, who next Tuesday will make effective the transfer of powers to his daughter in the General Shareholders’ Assembly. That jump in category, however, could be prevented by the first team if it ends up being relegated during the Centennial season.
For this reason, the Vallecas clash is a final for Celta, who Next week they will host Granada in Balaídos, another direct rival in the fight to avoid relegation. Winning those two games would give peace of mind to Benítez’s project, who will repeat the eleven he fielded against Cádiz despite the good performance of Greek striker Tasos Douvikas in the Copa del Rey.