Matches
Guler, Bernardo start in a 4-2-3-1: How Real Madrid can line up against Rayo Vallecano
Real Madrid are back in action in La Liga tonight as they take on Rayo Vallecano at the Santiago Bernabeu as part of Matchday 5.
Having won their first three league games of the 2026/27 season under new manager Jose Mourinho, Los Blancos fell to their first defeat last weekend, losing 1-0 away to Real Betis.
It has allowed arch-rivals FC Barcelona pull away and open up a three-point lead at the top of the table.
While these are still early days in the campaign, Real Madrid know they cannot afford any more slip-ups, especially considering the red-hot form the Blaugrana are in.
Mourinho’s men did bounce back to winning ways after last week’s defeat, beating Inter Milan 2-1 in the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday night, although the performance was not entirely convincing.
As they take the field once more tonight at the Santiago Bernabeu, Real Madrid will hope to deliver a strong performance and gather all three points and keep up the pace with the league leaders.
Mourinho has been boosted by the return of five players in Arda Guler, Eduardo Camavinga, Bernardo Silva, Raul Asencio, and Andriy Lunin, who missed the midweek European encounter.
Here’s how the Portuguese tactician is likely to set his team up tonight against Rayo Vallecano.
Defence
Thibaut Courtois was the star of the show for Real Madrid against Inter Milan, making some splendid saves. He will once again hold the key for the hosts as they look for only their second clean sheet of the season.
In defence, changes are unlikely, with Mourinho clearly establishing Ibrahima Konate and Dean Huijsen as his preferred partnership at centre-back, meaning Antonio Rudiger is set to miss out again.
Denzel Dumfries and Marc Cucurella, both of whom have made solid starts to life at the Bernabeu, ought to continue in the full-back positions.
Midfield
Given the absences of some key players, Mourinho was forced to play Trent Alexander-Arnold in the double pivot against Inter Milan – an experiment that was far from convincing.
Now, with the Real Madrid manager recovering his options in midfield, it is expected that summer signing Bernardo Silva starts alongside captain Federico Valverde in the centre of the park.
Eduardo Camavinga, who is also back after serving a suspension, will be an option from the bench, along with Aurelien Tchouameni, who is being eased back slowly after his return from injury.
Jude Bellingham has been one of Real Madrid’s best players in the early parts of the season and will continue in his preferred attacking midfield position against Rayo Vallecano tonight.
Attack
Brahim Diaz got the nod against Inter Milan and gave a good account of himself. However, with Arda Guler back and available after missing the midweek game, the Turkish international should reclaim his spot on the right flank.
On the left wing, Vinicius Jr. will retain his place, but will need to step up and deliver amid growing pressure and frustration within the fans, who booed him at the Bernabeu on Tuesday.
Finally, Kylian Mbappe, who has been in the news for his candid interview, will spearhead the Real Madrid attack.
Summer signing Yan Diomande will once again have to make do with minutes off the bench.
Features
Clean sheet at last, Vinicius’ moment of madness | Three takeaways from Real Madrid 1-0 Villarreal
Real Madrid took all three points against Villarreal on Saturday night to get back on track after the international break, and thus ensured they did not continue sinking after the defeat at the Madrid derby.
Jose Mourinho made some bold decisions in his starting XI as he benched Vinicius Jr., playing Yan Diomande on the left-flank and Arda Guler on the right flank.
The dynamics worked out decently well, and it was eventually the new record signing who scored for the club to hand them the lead and the win.
Compared to performances before the international break, there was an improvement in terms of Real Madrid’s level, but the team are still far off from where they must be to make a strong case to be title contenders.
Madrid Universal brings you three takeaways from Real Madrid 1-0 Villarreal.
The struggle continues
All of Real Madrid’s season so far has been of struggles and difficult wins, and the same theme continued last night as the team returned from the international break.
Los Blancos have failed to look convincing for a long time now, and they did not dominate Villarreal in any capacity last night as well.
Continuing with the same theme of winning by narrow margins and scraping past the finish line, they registered yet another 1-0 win that did not leave anyone convinced.
Yan Diomande’s goal was the only positive takeaway from the night, and even that was made possible only after a narrow offside decision went in their favor. With the firepower they have, struggling to create chances to such an extent seems inexcusable.
With a difficult month ahead, last night’s game did not give fans any reason to believe matters have changed after the international break. At this rate, the coming month could be a bleak one for Los Blancos.
Vinicius’ moment of madness
Of all the events that transpired at the Santiago Bernabeu last night, the most memorable one was the incident involving Vinicius Jr.’s goal, and embarrassingly so.
Having seemingly scored a great goal ten minutes after Diomande’s opener, the Brazilian star was on his way to celebrate the achievement, but what unfolded thereafter was embarrassing.
The VAR found an incident of Vinicius pulling the hair of a Villarreal player for no apparent reason in the build-up to the goal, and at this point there can be no arguments defending the player’s behavior.
As one of the biggest names of one of Europe’s biggest clubs, there has to be a sense of responsibility in one’s role – something Vinicius simply does not seem to have. What he did last night was simply inexcusable.
A lot can be said about VAR’s selective interference, but what cannot be argued is that what Vinicius did last night was a clear red card offense.
He will now miss El Clasico and will serve at least a two-game suspension. Whether that is a boon or a bane for Real Madrid, at this point, remains unknown and only time will tell.
A clean sheet at last
Ahead of last night’s win over Villarreal, Real Madrid had only overseen one clean sheet in eight games across competitions.
In that sense, simply keeping the opposition from scoring last night was an achievement in itself for Los Blancos, and it could not have come at a better time.
Real Madrid entered the game without many of their regular defenders available, especially with Dean Huijsen suspended and Eder Militao and Raul Asencio out through injury.
Ibrahima Konate and Antonio Rudiger, thus, started in central defense on the night and both did phenomenally well for Los Blancos. They were joined by Alvaro Carreras and Trent Alexander-Arnold, both of whom complemented the duo well.
The right-back was a relatively weak link defensively, but Konate and Rudiger were spot-on with their reading of the game to keep the Villarreal attack from scoring. They both did eventually pick up yellow cards, but Villarreal finished the game without a single big chance created.
Finding defensive stability, which is the cornerstone of Mourinho’s project, is massive for the manager, and he will be pleased to have a new working formula.
What happens after Huijsen’s return, however, remains to be seen, as the manager may well like to hand the new duo some more chances to prove their consistency.
