Aiming to break into the top seven of the La Liga table and book a Europa League spot on the final day of the season, Rayo Vallecano will welcome Mallorca to the Estadio de Vallecas on Saturday.
The hosts currently occupy the final European spot but only trail seventh-placed Celta Vigo by a single point thanks to a crucial victory last time out, while their visitors will aim to cement 10th place with a win.
Match preview
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Rayo Vallecano head into the final day of the La Liga campaign aiming to seal European football for the first time since 2001 and the second time in their history, having climbed into La Liga’s top eight in recent weeks.
After finishing one place and five points above the drop zone last time around, Los Franjirrojos have enjoyed a much-improved campaign, earning 51 points from their 37 games thus far, winning 13 and losing 12 of those.
They would see their top-eight hopes all but fade away in a four-match winless streak in April, but Inigo Perez‘s side have bounced back in style since, climbing from 11th spot as they firstly picked up 1-0 victories over Getafe and Las Palmas and took a point from a 1-1 draw with sixth-placed Real Betis.
That saw Los Franjirrojos sit four points behind Celta Vigo in the final guaranteed Europa League spot with two games remaining ahead of a meeting between the two sides, and they kept their hopes of a top-seven spot alive and narrowed the gap with a crucial 2-1 win, coming from behind thanks to Isi Palazon‘s early leveller and Jorge de Frutos‘s decisive goal.
Now occupying eighth spot, which would earn them a Europa Conference League playoff spot, but knowing a victory would see them climb to seventh if Celta Vigo drop points and a loss or draw of their own could see them fall out of the continental spots, Rayo Vallecano will be desperate to end the season with a fourth win in the five-game run to play on the continental stage next term.
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Their visitors, meanwhile, make the trip having fallen out of European contention last time out, leaving them to fight to maintain their top-half spot on the final day.
Indeed, Mallorca led Saturday’s hosts and sat as high as seventh with six games remaining in late April, having spent the majority of the campaign in the top eight with 44 points on the board from 32 outings.
They have since experienced an agonising dip in a tough schedule, though, adding just three more points to that tally courtesy of a 2-1 home victory over Real Valladolid after back-to-back defeats to Barcelona and Girona.
The win did still leave Jagoba Arrasate‘s side eighth heading into the final three games, but they failed to build on that result, going on to fall just short in a 2-1 loss away at Real Madrid following an injury-time winner, before they hosted Getafe last weekend and lost by the same scoreline with Cyle Larin‘s goal coming too late to spark a turnaround.
Now unable to catch their eighth-placed hosts and ninth-placed Osasuna, and with 11th-placed Real Sociedad just one point behind, Mallorca will go in search of a final-day win to at least seal a top-half finish in what has been an improved and commendable campaign.
Team News
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Rayo Vallecano would have hoped to field an unchanged starting XI from their crucial win over Celta Vigo last time out, although they will be without midfielder Oscar Valentin through suspension, while Sergio Camello, Jonathan Montiel and Abdul Mumin remain confined to the treatment room.
Isi Palazon will keep his place up front, having netted his fourth league goal of the season in that win, while winger Jorge de Frutos is a danger man having netted a team-high tally of eight goals across all competitions this term.
In Valentin’s expected absence, Gerard Gumbau should join Unai Lopez in the engine room, while Pathe Ciss should again partner mainstay Florian Lejeune at the heart of a back four.
Mallorca will remain without Chiquinho, Abdon Prats and Takuma Asano on the final day of the La Liga season due to ongoing injury issues.
Pablo Maffeo is a fresh concern having been forced off last time out, and he should be replaced on the wing by Cyle Larin, who came on to score his seventh league goal of the season last time out.
He will likely join Dani Rodriguez and Sergi Darder in support of front man Vedat Muriqi, who has also netted seven goals this term, while Antonio Raillo and Martin Valjent are mainstays at the heart of a back four.
Rayo Vallecano possible starting lineup:
Batalla; Balliu, Lejeune, Ciss, Pacha; Ratiu, Lopez, Gumbau, De Frutos; Palazon, Embarba
Mallorca possible starting lineup:
Greif; Bauza, Valjent, Raillo, Mojica; Mascarell, Costa; Larin, Darder, Rodriguez; Muriqi
We say: Rayo Vallecano 2-1 Mallorca
Rayo Vallecano head into the final day with momentum on their side in their chase of seventh spot, and we back them to ramp up the pressure on Celta Vigo with another victory on Saturday against a Mallorca side who have limped towards the end of the campaign.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
