RAYO VALLECANO (Campo de Futbol de Vallecas)

LA LIGA, RAYO VALLECANO 2-2 SEVILLA, ATTENDANCE: 12,375

The final leg of my Spanish journey to me a short subway ride (about 12 minutes) from my hotel near Atocha. It was just as well I could afford myself a bit of lay in after discovering a fine craft beer bar in Madrid, which was open until 1am!

The Estadio de Vallecas is across the road from Portazgo subway entrance and the ground rises between the shops and tower blocks.

The ground feels part of the community and a story that perfectly illustrates that spirit can be found here. The stadium has been home to Rayo since 1976 and has a capacity of just under 15,000. 

The ground was renamed in 1994 when Teresa Rivero became President of the club, the first female President of a Primera División team. Rayo therefore decided to rename the stadium in her honour. When she left in 2011, the club's members voted to reinstate the original name.

This game was close to capacity which meant I had to pay €40 for a seat in the main stand. The plus side to this was it gave me a great pitch side view of the action and also the chance to watch the Rayo Ultra's do their stuff.

The Ultras locate themselves behind the goal (the ground is three-sided) and they kept their support for the team going throughout the game. The noise and atmosphere inside the ground was by far the best I had experienced on this trip.

The fans did have plenty to cheer as the home side came from two goals down to secure themselves a point.

Sevilla were quickest out of the blocks and after 10 minutes the Vallecano defence failed to deal with a corner and, after the ball had pinballed in the six yard box, ex Blackburn and Stoke player Steven N'Zonzi prodded the ball over the line.

After 20 minutes Sevilla counter attacked again and a shot by Vitolo was parried by Rayo 'keeper Juan Carlos into the path of  Iborra who toe poked the ball home.

Sevilla were carving Rayo open at will and should have extended their lead further, including another effort from Iborra which came back off the post

Manucho Gonçalves came on as a substitute after 35 minutes and his physical presence helped to bring Rayo back into the game. He produced a fine finish after 43 minutes, from an Adri Embarba cross, to halve the deficit.

Sevilla missed more chances in the opening period of the second half and their profligacy was to prove costly.  On the hour mark ex-Manchester United player Bebe crossed for Nicolas Fedor to equalise for Rayo.

Rayo had chances to snatch an unlikely victory but in the end were happy to settle for a point. The draw was a fair result, considering the way in which Rayo fought back from two goals down, but Sevilla will be wondering how on earth they let this game slip away.

A fine end to my long weekend of Spanish football. Now, if only I didn't have to have been at the airport for 8pm.....

"Love Rayo, hate racism"
A mural at the ground featuring former West Bromwich Albion legend Laurie Cunningham.
Cunningham played 19 games for Rayo in 1988/89, scoring the goal that clinched promotion to La Liga that season. He sadly died in a car crash in July 1989 aged just 33.

Click here for a video clip of the goals.

Click here for a video of the players and fans clebrating together.

LEVANTE UD (Estadi Ciutat de Valencia)

LA LIGA, LEVANTE 3-0 GETAFE, ATTENDANCE: 13,665

After a day a sightseeing in Valencia and a lovely meal at La Pepica, a restaurant on the beach front, it was time for another slice of Spanish football.

We were absolutely stuffed on Paella and decided to walk it off and, as luck would have it, it was about 5km from the beach to the ground so it was a leisurely stroll to the Estadio Ciudad de Valencia, the home of Levante Unión Deportiva.

The club were founded in 1909, a decade before Valencia CF, but have spent virtually all of their existence in the shadow of their more famous neighbours. Another club, Gimnástico FC, were also formed in 1909. After Levante's ground was destroyed in the civil war and Gimnástico lost most of their players, the two clubs merged in 1939.

The club made it's debut in La Liga in 1963 and stayed there for two seasons before spending the next four decades flitting between divisions two and three. The club returned to La Liga in 2004 but went straight back down. The club really established themselves in La Liga after 2010, when they won promotion once more and have stayed ever since, even managing a last 16 run in the Europa League in 2012/13.

When purchasing tickets for the game you could not help but notice posters in the shop window referring to Levante's "Los Rebeloes" Johan Cruyff was there (he played 10 games for the club in 1981) and also a certain Arouna Kone. Koné was on loan at Levante, and scored the winner against Real Madrid in September 2011.

Koné was rested for the final three games of the season because he was "scoring too many goals" as if he reached 18 he would have to return to Sevilla automatically, which he did not want. He moved to Levante on a permanent basis, though the club sold him on immediately to Wigan Athletic for a tidy profit.

Levante were bottom of the table at the start of play having only won four games all season. They were taking on mid-table Getafe but the way they played this evening, they did not look like a bottom of the league side.

The Levante attack was led by former Manchester United player Guiseppe Rossi, who has signed for the club on loan from Fiorentina until the end of the season, and he helped inspire the team to a much needed three points. José Luis Morales opened the scoring after 10 minutes with a superb solo effort, when he cut in from the left, beat a couple of defenders and shot low into the bottom corner.

It was Rossi (43) who doubled the advantage from the penalty spot after Morales was upended.

Getafe had chances in the second half, Álvaro Vázquez missing a virtual open goal from four yards out, steering his effort hitting the post when it was easier to score.

If Getafe had managed to get one back then I suspect the home side may have crumbled. However, In the 81st minute, Joan Verdu made the game safe for the home side to lift them off the foot of La Liga.

Pre-match was spent in a little cafe yards from the ground, where a fine selection of bottled beer was available. Post-match it was back to my favourite Valencian craft ale bar for one last round of drinks, the more direct walk into the city centre taking about 35 minutes.

Graffiti written on one of the toilet doors in the ground.
If only he would..... 

GETAFE CLUB de FUTBOL (Coliseum Alfonso Pérez)

LFP PRIMERA DIVISION, GETAFE 1-2 GRANADA, ATTENDANCE: 5,987

This weekend I headed over to Spain for a short break. I was hoping for a double header, combining a trip to Getafe with a visit to Atletico Madrid but sadly the kick off time was not kind to me (Spanish football is notorious for not deciding kick off times until only a few weeks beforehand, so this is not helpful when you have to book early to get cheap flights!) so I had to make do with just the one match (incidentally Atletico and Bilbao played out a drab goalless draw).

Getafe is part of the Community of Madrid and it is a short 25 minute hop on the metro from Madrid city centre to Los Espartales (and an easy 3 minute walk to ground from there). The club was originally founded in 1946 as Club Getafe Deportivo, though a Getafe Futbol Club had existed from 1924-1932 in the lower reaches of Spanish football.

After spending many years in the lower divisions of Spanish football, the club reached the second (Segunda) tier in 1976 before being liquidated and relegated in 1982.

The current club came into existence in 1983 after Club Getafe Deportivo's youth set up merged with Club Deportivo Pena Getafe.

The 'new' club climbed up through the leagues in the following decade and eventually reached La Liga in 2004, where they have remained to this day. They have mostly spent their time in the mid to lower reaches of the table, but did finish 6th in 2010 to qualify for the Europa League. They had previously played in Europe a couple of years earlier by virtue of being runners up to Valencia in the Copa del Rey. They lost on away goals to Bayern Munich in the quarter final in front of a capacity crowd.

Getafe play their homes games at the Coliseum Alfonso Pérez. The stadium was inaugurated on 1st January 1998 and is named after the Spanish international Alfonso Pérez, even though he never played Getafe, though he was at the club as a youth. The ex-Real Madrid and Barcelona man is arguably the most famous footballer to come out of the area, having been born in Getafe.

The ground is all seated but has limited cover (only the top tier of the main stand is covered) and is fully open to the elements, Fortunately the weather was lovely and warm for this early evening kick off. I opted for the stand behind the goal, where the Getafe Ultras are located. This was the cheapest ticket at €30. The ground was barely over a third full today.

Getafe are safe from relegation for another season and played the game as such, whereas Granada had it all to play for as they needed the points in their own fight against the drop. It was Granada who therefore played the game with a bit more intensity. 

Youssef El-Arabi (14) opened the scoring for visitors from the penalty spot after a handball from defender Naldo. Pedro León (45) equalised with virtually the last kick of the half when his weak shot squirmed past goalkeeper Roberto at his near post and into the net.

In the second half El-Arabi (59) scored a superb header to give Granada the three points and coach José Ramón Sandoval a victory in his first game in charge.

You can see the goals by clicking here