ANDhe last Saturday pessimism invaded within the Rayo Vallecano after seeing Casemiro’s hard tackle on Óscar Valentín. The midfielder from Toledo suffered a strong impact on his right ankle and despite trying for seven minutes to continue on the pitch, the player from La Mancha had to be replaced in the 65th minute by the Senegalese Pathe Ciss.
Hard hit on the line flotation of an Andoni Iraola who has ended up betting on the consolidation of the double pivot made up of Óscar and Comesaña. Valentín left the green first and the Vallecas Stadium later with clear signs of limping, but with the optimism of being able to recover before the historic event that his team has to face next Thursday in the second leg of the Copa del Rey semifinals.
after the crash, Iraola sent out a message of optimism in the face of the possibility that Óscar could be available to measure himself against those of Pellegrini. The man from Usúrbil pointed to the point of impact as the key to speeding up the recovery process: “He has good milk, he has the mark of the studs and he was very swollen. It was on the tibia, I don’t think he caught his ankle. De facing recovery, that’s better because it’s not a sprain. Probably going to have a better diagnosis than if it had been lower”said the Basque technician.
A few hours later, it was the La Mancha footballer himself who came out through his social networks, in which he assured that everything had been left in a scare and that “Fortunately, there were no major evils to regret.”
After the rest day, Rayo returned to training this afternoon at the Rayo Vallecano Foundation Sports City. He has done it with the starters against Real Madrid inside the facilities and it has only been the substitutes against Carlo Ancelotti’s men who have exercised on the pitch.
Valentín, like the rest of the players who started from the start, has completed a light recovery session in the gym, before returning to training on the field tomorrow. As the hours go by, optimism grows and the options of Óscar to be in Seville increase. The physical and mental strength of the player can play a key role in making a decision. He wants to be there and will do everything possible to be available to Andoni Iraola to play the match against Betis.
The changes against Madrid raise doubts
Last Saturday, Andoni Iraola surprised with a small revolution in the eleven against Real Madrid. The Basque coach had reiterated in the preview the importance that the work week had been clean and that his footballers had been able to regain strength after a more than busy start to 2022. Despite this, the one who was a coach of the Mirandés surprised locals and strangers by lining up Mario Suárez and Baby ahead of Saveljich and Isi.
The Madrid footballer, a key player in the great cup performance, had barely enjoyed minutes in LaLiga. Although it is true, Saveljich came touched of the match against Elche and this was a change that could be foreseen with the aim that Mario would take minutes of filming thinking about the Cup. On the other hand, much more surprising was the presence of the Portuguese winger. Accustomed to playing with a changed leg, Baby started from the right to the detriment of a Isi Palazón who had played practically everything.
With Luca Zidane settled under the sticks and Falcao’s eternal shadow over Guardiola in attack, Iraola still has several unknowns to decipher ahead of a Villamarín eleven in which there may be more than one surprise. Rayo is forced to come back and will have to take a step forward from the beginning to be able to give the first blow to the match.
