Real Madrid, as in their three previous visits, stumbled again in Vallecas against Rayo (0-0) after a poor match, which gives breathing room to their pursuers, mainly Barcelona, ??who thrashed Celta at Balaidos (2-4) with A hat trick from Polish striker Robert Lewandowski and a great assist from Englishman Marcus Rashford.

The stumble by Xabi Alonso's team, which closes a bad week in which they suffered their first Champions League defeat at Anfield against Liverpool, allows all their pursuers to close the gap. Barca are now three points behind, Villarreal five, and Atletico de Madrid six. The draw was a just reward for a Real Madrid team that lacked cohesion and even seemed unhunger against a much more active Rayo side, spurred on by their comeback victory against Lech Poznan. Rayo were attentive in their marking and pressing, which stifled any attempt at a comeback. When Real Madrid did manage to create chances, they were thwarted by the Argentine goalkeeper Augusto Batalla and their own lack of precision. Inigo Perez's team even had a few opportunities to make the scoreline worse, but they lacked the finishing touch against Thibaut Courtois, meaning the result could only be the first 0-0 draw in the history of the match between the two teams at Vallecas. Rayo had managed to keep Real Madrid scoreless four times at their home stadium, defeating the Madrid side on each occasion. In the league, the score was 2-0 in 1992 with goals from Pedro Riesco and Polster; 1-0 in 1997 thanks to a goal from Ezequiel Castillo; and 1-0 in 2019 with a penalty goal from Adrian Embarba. They also achieved this feat once in the Copa del Rey, in the 2002 quarterfinals. For the first time, a match between Rayo Vallecano and Real Madrid in Vallecas ended goalless, in a stadium that has become a fortress. Inigo Perez's team has conceded only three goals in five matches in front of their home fans, having already hosted Xabi Alonso's team and Hansi Flick's Barcelona. Real Madrid is currently experiencing its worst period in Vallecas.where they have failed to win in the last four seasons (1 defeat and 3 draws). Of their last six visits, they only emerged victorious once, 0-1 in February 2022.

For the first time this season, Xabi Alonso's team failed to score in LaLiga and have now gone two consecutive matches without finding the net, following their Champions League defeat to Liverpool at Anfield. Real Madrid hadn't failed to score in the domestic competition since February 1st, when they lost away to Espanyol (1-0) with Carlo Ancelotti in charge.