Rayo Vallecano, with goals from French defender Florian Lejeune, Uruguayan left back Luis Alfonso Pacha Espino and midfielder Gerard Gumbau, beat Drita, from Kosovo, 3-0 this Thursday,
3
0
Goals 1-0 min. 33: Lejeune. 2-0 min. 65: Gumbau. 3-0 min. 82: Luis Espino.
Arbitrator Urs Schnyder
yellow cards Lejeune (min. 59) of the Shejiji (min. 72)
Party scent. That is what was felt at the Vallecas Stadium with a dedicated fan base for one of those matches that remain engraved in the memory and history of a club. Like those of the UEFA Cup of the 2000/2001 season, twenty-five years ago. On this occasion, Rayo received Drita with the advantage of depending on itself to access the round of 16 directly without having to go through the toll of a playoff heads or tails. The opportunity was historic and Rayo did not waste it. With a very renewed eleven, without two of its mainstays, the wingers Isi Palazón and Álvaro García, Rayo took to the pitch under the command of Unai López, with Fran Pérez and the Romanian Andrei Ratiu on the wings and Sergio Camello as a center forward.
From the first minute the Madrid team took control of the game to the point that, before reaching the middle of the first half, they overcame their rival. Even so, Rayo had a hard time finding clear chances due to the strong defense imposed by the Kosovars and that is why the most used resource was long-range shots. In one of them, at 32 minutes, Florian Lejeune managed to open the scoring with a powerful whip for Laurit Behluli.
With an advantage on the scoreboard, Rayo, who had 79% possession in the first half, took a weight off their shoulders and their game became more fluid because Drita had to change their defensive tactics to try to go up in search of an equalizer, something they did not achieve. The second half changed the tone of the game. The Kosovar team took a step forward and, after four minutes, tested Augusto Batalla with a good play on the right wing that ended with a low shot by Arb Manaj that the Argentine goalkeeper took out with his feet. That was the first of the numerous approaches he had to the Rayo area, almost all of them without danger and well destroyed by the home team’s defense, very well planted on the grass with the leadership shown by Lejeune and the Brazilian Luiz Felipe, who, little by little, after a long injury, is gaining a competitive rhythm and is beginning to be important.
When it was grayest, the game was sentenced by Rayo at 65 minutes. Ovouka did not understand his goalkeeper and gave him the ball so close and at such speed that Behluli caught it. The referee was clear. Assignment. Gerard Gumbau did not waste the opportunity and, on the edge of the small area, fired a cross shot into the gap left by the defense. From that action on, the match did not have much history because Drita lowered his arms and, very touched in his spirits, was unable to create any dangerous play while in the stands the fans waved their flags in the wind.
Rayo rounded off their victory with the same protagonist from a week ago against Polish Jagiellonia. Pacha Espino, just out on the grass, made an individual play that ended in a cross shot at goal. With the victory, Rayo finishes the league phase in fifth position with 13 points, enters the round of 16 directly and secures a home return in the tie. Ahead only the French Strasbourg, leader with 16 points, followed by the Polish Rakow with 14 and Sparta Prague with 13.
