Rayo Vallecano vs Osasuna Preview

Osasuna will look to continue their quest for a place in Europe next season when they travel to the Campo de Futbol de Vallecas in Madrid to face struggling Rayo Vallecano.

The hosts only recently were gunning for a top-eight finish after a strong start to the season but a series of poor results has hampered their quest, and they find themselves eight points away from sixth-placed Real Betis.

They come into this tie on a run of eight La Liga (LL) games without a win (D5, L3) following Saturday’s 2-1 defeat to Atlético Madrid. However, they still sit ten points clear of the relegation zone in a relatively comfortable mid-table position but will be hoping for three points sooner rather than later.

As that derby defeat was their first loss in five home matches (W1, D3), staying calm could serve them well, although they can’t relax too much having only won one of the last four H2Hs here (D1, L2), including a 3-0 defeat last season.

Osasuna’s 2-1 win over Elche last weekend saw them overtake their hosts in the La Liga table with one point. For the second time in the week, the visitors rallied to produce a result after trailing 1-0 at the break following their 1-1 extra-time draw with Athletic Bilbao that put them into the Copa del Rey final.

With that final with Real Madrid to look forward to next month, Osasuna could be forgiven for taking their eye off the ball but they remain focused as a win here would lift them – albeit temporarily – into seventh place, a ranking which would see them in position to qualify for Europe.

However, to do so, they’ll need to build on their current record of one La Liga away win in eight attempts (D5, L2), with them failing to score in three of the last four of those fixtures.

This game gets underway at 20:00 BST.

Other fixtures taking place this week in the Spanish Primera Liga:

Spanish Primera Liga Table