The Pride of Vallekas

Edit: in the pictures below I have mixed up former Llagostera player Tito with current Llagostera player Pitu.  Apologies for that. Mixing up two (admittedly very similar) players is a first for this blog. Hopefully it will be the last too. Reus Deportiu vs Rayo Vallecano. Starting lineups. Míchel and Aritz López Garai both made major changes to their squad from their previous games - a 1-0 win against Almería and a 1-1 draw at Huesca respectively. This was understandable, given that for Rayo and Reus this was their third game in eight and nine days respectively. Rayo's defense was completely reshuffled. Right to left, Baiano, Emiliano Velázquez, José Antonio Dorado and Sergio Akieme became Baiano, Antonio Amaya, Abdoulaye Ba and Álex Moreno - that's three changes. Moreover, in midfield, Francisco Cerro replaced Unai López for his first start in a Rayo shirt, or indeed in Spanish football. There was also a fifth change that Míchel was forced to make after the starti...

Yes, Reus Deportiu.  You can follow Andrew on Twitter here , on Instagram here and on YouTube here . A bit about yourself and your background My name is Andreu, I'm 17 years old and I live in a village near Reus. All of my family lives in Reus. I love practicing sports, especially football, and I also like literature and music. I've actually played the piano since I was 8 years old. When I was 7 years old I started playing football at the local team, one year later I discovered a football team called F.C. Barcelona. I started following them, basically because all my family were Barcelona supporters. But also because I realized being a Barça fan was something special... How long have you been a fan of Reus and what made you support them in the first place? ....However, when I was 10, my grandmother and her sister showed me a football team called C.F. Reus Deportiu. They brought me to the pitch a couple of times, so I realized that C.F. Reus Deportiu was a very special...

My new series, called the Silly Season Accumulator, lists 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 for this week: Álex Bergantiños is a target for Sporting, Tenerife and Rayo. Rayo have been linked with him in the past - but Sporting are in a better position to sign him. Alberto García is a target for Rayo. The Getafe goalkeeper still has two years remaining on his contract. A few days later, and talks of a loan deal are said to be all but confirmed. Edit: Done deal! Goalkeeper Alejandro Remiro (Athletic Bilbao) has been linked with a move to Rayo, Huesca and Cultural Leonesa. Răzvan Raț has taken a week off, and is reportedly n...

In the heart of Puente de Vallecas, sporting, institutional and political turmoil have wrecked the institutions of a club that didn't deserve it. Rayo Vallecano, freshly relegated from La Liga, has had three different managers and was just outside the relegation zone with a squad that looks largely unchanged from last season. A signing's (Roman Zozulya) right-wing political views caused the left-wing fan base to protest, and caused Javier Tebas to criminalize fans who were then defended by left-wing political parties such as Podemos and Izquierda Unida. It led to the player returning to Real Betis, and not being able to play anywhere else for the rest of the season, and FIFA making a historic exception by allowing the player to play for four clubs in a single season. And then a Podemos-led coalition called Ahora Madrid tried declaring Javier Tebas persona non grata in Puente de Vallecas for not respecting freedom of speech via a motion in the regional council, a motion that...