Real Madrid missed the chance to move top of LALIGA after an entertaining 3-3 draw against Rayo Vallecano on Saturday night.
LALIGA
Report: Vallecano 3-3 Real Madrid
Date: 14 December 2025
Venue: Estadio de Vallecas
Los Blancos were without the services of Kylian Mbappe who missed out due to injury as Rodrygo earned a start while Ferland Mendy dropped out for Fran Garcia at left-back.
The defending champions fell behind after just four minutes as an un-marked Unai Lopez found the back of the net for Vallecano by nodding home a cross from Jorge de Frutos.
Carlo Ancelotti's men went agonisingly close to putting themselves level after 15 minutes but Rodrygo's goal-bound strike was brilliantly cleared off the line by Vallecano goalkeeper Augusto Batalla.
The home side would go on to bag a second goal on 36 minutes when Abdul Mumin rose above his marker to head home from a corner.
Los Blancos did pull a goal back five minutes the break as Federico Valverde found the back of the net with a superb strike from around 30 yards out that gave Batalla no chance.
The comeback was complete on the stroke of halftime as Jude Bellingham scored for the sixth successive game by nodding home a cross from Rodrygo.
Ancelotti's charges carried that momentum into the second half and took the lead ten minutes in when Rodrygo carved out some space on the edge of the box and sent a powerful strike into the back of the net.
However, Vallecano hit back after the hour mark when Isi Palazon evaded his marker to get on the end of Florian Lejeune's cross to volley past a helpless Thibut Courtois in goal.
The visitors threw everything forward in search of a winner and even with the introduction of Vinicius Junior, they were unable to grab a winning goal as the two sides settled for a share of the spoils.
