The Pride of Vallekas

This is the story of two signings, 14 years apart, of two very similar players. Since I've already written about Raúl Baena before, I'm just going to put a link to the post - you can click here to read it . Nevertheless, without further ado, here is the story of Luis Cembranos. 7th October, 1995. Johan Cruyff must deal with the absence of Kodro, Hagi, Prosinečki, Popescu Bakero. Barcelona are travelling to Betis, and it is the only La Liga game of the day - all eyes are on it. Those eyes then quickly turn - Diego Maradona rejoins the Boca Juniors squad after having been suspended for fifteen months. And even in Spain many focus on Jorge Valdano's Real Madrid who are struggling - and Atlético Madrid's Radomir Antić who calls club president Jesús Gil's dreams distant from reality. But the eyes that remain go wild - Johan Cruyff has produced a revolutionary lineup. Eight new young players make their debut. Eight. And they tear Betis apart, in a performance that...

Once again, smetimes a blog entry becomes less about the subject matter and how it came about. This blog post was supposed to be titled D is for Deportivo Alavés. However, most people would only call it Alavés, and I felt like that was cheating. By sheer coincidence, the first player I wrote about was David Aganzo. Disaster averted? David Aganzo was one of many players who directly confronted Martín Presa in 2011. He had not been paid for fourteen months, Rayo had just returned to La Liga, and he was being offered 70% less than promised. He was blunt in his interviews, angry with his situation and left Vallekas, but his sporting achievements must not be overlooked. His physical problems and excessive temperament plagued him at Rayo but he still managed to score more goals per 90 minutes, and sometimes more goals overall, than any other player. In fact, out of 114 league games, he was eligible for just 64, with 50 games lost due to injuries and suspensions. A Real Madr...

A couple of days ago, I wrote about CD Móstoles URJC, and how Rayo B coach Juanvi Peinado will be coaching them next season (read it here ). I dug deeper, and found some stories that were worth sharing. This is part 2. CD Móstoles URJC came fourth in the Tercera this season, qualifying for the promotion playoffs. Their top scorer, and the third top scorer in the league, was Gerardo Berodia, with 17 goals. He is another player who made their debut in professional football late in his career - at the age of 31. Born in Madrid, Berodia joined Real Madrid in 1991 at age 10. He left seven years later and, until the age of 31, competed solely in lower league and amateur football, representing El Álamo, Santa Ana, Alcalá, Pinto, San Sebastián de los Reyes, Navalcarnero, Leganés, Zamora, Ponferradina, Conquense and Lugo. He helped Lugo in the 2011–12 season to promotion to the Segunda, scoring seven goals. However, 33 professional minutes of game time spanning four games led ...

Rumors here, rumors there, rumors everyw...CAN WE PLEASE HAVE LESS RUMORS! As you can guess,  I hate silly season. It's just rumors and rumors - all talk and no action. So welcome to my new series, called the Silly Season Accumulator. Where I list all the rumors that have ever been mentioned on the internet about Rayo.  Yes - all of them. Just to show you how ridiculous this machine is - a machine that creates meaningless content masquerading as journalism. If that's harsh, that's because the irony is that more rumors gives me more material. And that material gets in the way of the stories that matter. Here's all the rumors so far: Marco Sangalli from Mirandés is interested in joining Rayo, who is also linked to Valladolid, Numancia and Reus.  Embarba is being courted by Granada, Sporting and Pumas in Mexico.  Alberto Martín from Leganés has his contract expiring this summer, and has been linked too. Córdoba are also interested. Rayo...

Pop quiz: in the 2013-14 season, who completed more passes than Xavi, with 2,936 passes (2,537 good) to 2,587 (2,406)? In the 2014-15 season, who completed more passes than Toni Kroos, with 2,566 passes (2,213 good) to 2,353 (2,170)?  In the 2015-16 season, who  completed more passes than Toni Kroos, with  2,693 passes (2,351 good) to 2,425 (2,277)? Trashorras. Duh. The Rayo midfield linchpin has done it again - for the fourth consecutive season, he is on course to become the player with the most passes in the league he plays in. Player Team Total Passes Short Passes Long Passes Through Balls Trashorras Rayo 2,179 1,872 303 4 Fernando Seoane Lugo 2,175 1.940 234 1 Folch Reus 2,055 1,776 278 1 Zapater Zaragoza 1,998 1,728 265 5 Carlos Pita Lugo 1,844 1,539 302 3 Stats as per the 39th jornada i.e. before the Zaragoza game - Trashorras was suspended anyways! Also, considering the Seoane has played 545 minutes m...

One of my first ever posts was about Raúl Baena and his important to Rayo. (You can read it here ). This week, Baena, who is out of contract this summer, was linked to Alcorcón. The team is short of midfielders, since  Víctor Pérez and Bakic will be returning to Valladolid and Sporting Braga respectively. Pep Guardiola was revered by Barcelona fans because he achieved something believed to be impossible - winning trophies consistently whilst playing beautiful, attacking football. But beauty is subjective - and it isn't just of one type. It's hard to justify how a tough-tackling, yellow-card accumulating player who barely ever scores or assists goals can be described as beautiful. It's hard to see the importance of a player like that in a system that rewards passing and movement. But there is something beautiful, something heroic, something almost poetic, about a La Masia youth graduate, his hair flying in the air, his eyes determined, his brow tensed, his speed, ...

Melch is a La Voz de Galicia contributor - he writes a weekly article about Lugo for them.  Follow Melch on Twitter here .  How long have you been a fan of Lugo and what made you support them in the first place? I'm a Lugo native so I can proudly say that I've been supporter since I was a child. I am a member of the team since 1996. I am an elementary teacher but I am devoted to sports. I used to be an athlete until 23 and then a track and field coach. During the last 2 years I worked in Oklahoma city as a teacher so I can tell perfectly how hard is to watch games of your team with so many hours of delay. My weekends in the US were planned depending on the date Lugo could play. So this year I came back to my home city and I am living the experience of watching soccer again and I am enjoying this a lot! Generally speaking people in Spain only support Madrid or Barcelona. I hate that - when you live in a small town you should be supporting your home town team! Given the...

Ernesto Galán's praises have been sung many times. But they're not enough - he gives Rayo the solidity they need and is silently becoming an essential part of the team. By being a defensive right-back, a complete opposite to his predecessor Tito, Ernesto becomes the third center-back while Rayo have possession, thus freeing up Trashorras who would usually drop deeper as the third center-back to move further upfield. A subtle change - but it means that Trashorras is able to make his impact felt further up the field. In a frantic game like the one against Lugo, this wasn't just crucial - it was necessary. 35 seconds in and Patrick Ebert misses a one on one header with the goalkeeper. So much energy in this Rayo side too!!!! #RayoLugo — Sarthak Kumar (@Vallecanos1924) April 22, 2017 This new 4-3-3/3-4-3 suits another unsung hero - Álex Moreno. The left winger turned left back covers the wing perfectly, which suits Patrick Ebert who likes to cut inside with hi...

Gazzaniga Mejías Galán Quini Rat Á.Moreno Amaya Íñiguez Trashorras Baena Santi F.Beltrán Jordi Embarba Ebert Lass Manucho J.Guerra #RayoLugo pic.twitter.com/KtMhuO5rT4 — Rayo Vallecano (@RVMOficial) April 21, 2017 Compared to last week - Pablo Iñiguez, Răzvan Raț and Lass are back in the squad, and Míchel confirmed that Pablo would play. Not out of pity, out of necessity - Toño, Pablo Clavería and Dorado are out due to injuries and Zé Castro is out due to suspension. Plus, Miku, Cristaldo, Aguirre and Nacho are out too. It's a shame - a Venezuela international, a Boca Junior hot prospects, an ex-Toledo hot prospect and youth graduate and Rayo's second captain won't even grace the Vallekas bench, much less the pitch. Expect a bumpy game, with many cards. The referee for the game is Jorge Figueroa Vázquez, one of the toughest referees in the division. In the 17 games he has refereed this season he has dished out 75 yellow cards and ...

A huge thanks to Ignasi Torné for designing the official new logo for this blog! Follow him on Twitter:  @groundhopperbcn Sometimes, you have to get knocked down lower than you have ever been to stand back up taller than you ever were. Born in Madrid, Campillo graduated with Atlético Madrid's youth setup, and made his debuts as a senior with the C-team in 2008, in Tercera División. In the 2009 summer he was promoted to the reserves in Segunda División B. In July 2010 Campillo moved to another reserve team, Getafe CF B also in the third level. But, in January 2012 he signed for fellow league team UD Melilla, after being rarely used by Getafe. He had been touted as the next big thing for years. But the opportunity never came. So he went down to the Tercera. In July 2012 Campillo joined CU Collado Villalba, in the fourth division. After scoring nine goals for the side he agreed to a two-year deal with Rayo Vallecano, being assigned to the B-side in the thi...