Real Madrid rose to second place with a difficult victory over its guest, Rayo Vallecano, 2-1, on Wednesday, in the evening of its support for its Brazilian striker, Vinicius Junior, a victim of racist abuse, absent from injury and present in the stands, in the 36th stage of the Spanish Football League.

Real opened the scoring through Frenchman Karim Benzema (31), and just Rayo Vallecano thanks to Raul de Thomas (84), before Brazilian Rodrigo snatched the three-point goal for the Royal Club (89).

Real Madrid returned to second place with 74 points, one point ahead of archrivals Atletico Madrid, who fell to third place after squandering a three-goal lead at Espanyol, to tie 3-3.

Atletico advanced through Saul Nigues (21), Frenchman Antoine Griezmann (44) and Belgian Yannick Carrasco, before Espanyol turned the tables on its guest by scoring three goals in the second half for Mexican Cesar Montes (64), Joselo (76 from a penalty kick) and Brazilian Vinicius Souza (79). .

And Espanyol, the bottom runner-up, snatched a valuable point in its struggle for survival, as it raised its score to 35 points, two stages before the end.
And at his stadium, "Santiago Bernabeu", Real confirmed its superiority, as it won its last 11 matches against Rayo Vallecano, who won the last time in the home of its rival in 1996.

Rayo Vallecano, who was struggling a month ago for a European seat, also suffered its third consecutive loss, after falling to Real Betis 1-3 and Espanyol 1-2.

Real players entered the field wearing shirts bearing the name Vinicius and the number 20, while a banner was raised in the southern stand that read, “We are all Vinicius, that is enough,” with a shirt bearing the image of the Brazilian on the side, according to what a journalist from Agence France-Presse who was in the stadium indicated. .

Real and Vallecano players stood behind a banner reading "Racists, outside football", as part of a joint campaign by the Federation and the Spanish League, following the racist abuse that the Brazilian was subjected to against Valencia in the last stage.

Real Madrid players showed the name and number of Vinicius' shirt, amidst applause from the audience. In turn, Vinicius, who was seated next to the club's president, Florentio Perez, applauded, clearly moved by the honor reserved for him.

Vinicius may return to matches with Real Madrid on Saturday, when Los Blancos visit Seville, who reached the final of the European League, "Europa League".

And 20 minutes after the whistle, the fans cheered, "Vinnie, Vinnie" and applauded him, and the Brazilian responded by saluting them.

Real coach Carlo Ancelotti said, "Vinicius is doing well psychologically, all the support he has received in recent days has served him well. If he hadn't had this discomfort in his knee, he would have played. We'll see how it feels to get him to play on Saturday" against Sevilla. Who reached the final of the European League "Europa League".

"A lot has happened in the last few days, and I think the community, not just the world of sports, has realized something very important. It's a step forward and I hope the matter can be resolved quickly..." he added.

Benzema broke his fast from scoring in his last four matches to open the scoring after being dropped by the referee. The ball reached Uruguayan Federico Valverde, who passed it in the back of the defense to the Frenchman, who bypassed goalkeeper Stoll Dmitrievsky from North Macedonia and hit the ground with his left foot into the net (32).

Benzema raised his tally to 18 goals, in second place, 5 goals behind Barcelona's Polish striker Robert Lewandowski, leader of the standings (23).

Vallecano equalized after his first shot, after de Thomas deceived the Belgian goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois (84) inside the area, before Rodrigo snatched the winning goal after taking advantage of the loss of the ball by Argentine substitute Oscar Trejo, so he penetrated into the area and hit against the goalkeeper (89), and celebrated by raising his fist in the ball. Air in a nod to fellow countryman Vinicius.
Villarreal achieved its third successive victory at the expense of its guest, Cadiz, 2-0, scored by Senegalese Nicholas Jackson (20 and 45 + 2).

The “Yellow Submarines” team raised its score to 63 points and maintained its hopes of qualifying for the Champions League next season, as it is 5 points behind Real Sociedad IV, which won 1-0 over Almeria on Tuesday at the opening stage. Cadiz's balance, which is struggling not to drop, froze at 38 points in the sixteenth place.

The deficient Seville returned to a valuable draw against its host Elche, who was relegated to the second division 1-1.

Seville opened the scoring through Argentine Eric Lamela in the tenth minute, after a pass from Moroccan international Youssef Al-Nusairi, before completing the match after 8 minutes with ten players, after Senegalese Pape Guy was sent off with a red card after a violent intervention on Argentine Lucas Pouille.

Elche took advantage of the numerical shortage in the ranks of its guest to equalize thanks to Titi Morente (25).

Real Betis VI lost to its guest, Getafe, 1-0, scored by Paraguayan Omar Alderiti (69).

Thursday's stage competitions will be completed with Real Mallorca's matches against Valencia, and Osasuna's meeting with Athletic Bilbao.