Rodrigo redeemed Real

Real beat Rayo Vallecano 2-1 in the 89th minute at the Santiago Bernabeu for the 36th matchday of La Liga and gave the “merengues” the opportunity to temporarily move up to second place in the standings with +2 from Atletico, waiting for what will happen do the “rochiblancos” on Thursday in the “Corneal Prat” against Espanyol.

The “merenches” pressed from the start and took the lead with Benzema in the 31st minute from inside the area after Valverde’s fine ball. Carlo Ancelotti’s men continued to miss chances, but their failure brought an equalizer from De Tomas after Chavarria’s through ball in the 84th minute. Finally, in the 89th minute, Rodrigo took advantage of Thembayos’ ball and gave the victory to the European champions, leaving the capital’s fourth team in -4 of the European positions.

Villarreal remained in the “bay” of the four with a 2-0 win in “Theramica” against Cádiz, who remained at +3 from the relegation positions.

Sevilla “suicided”, drawing 1-1 at the home of the condemned Elche, after being only -1 from the seventh privileged position and Bilbao, while otherwise it would have been +1 from the Basques.

The 36th matchday:

Tuesday 23/5

Celta-Girona 1-1

(42′ Peres – 59′ pen. Stouani)

Sociedad-Almeria 1-0

(45+4′ Kubo)

Valladolid-Barcelona 3-1

(2′ aut. Christensen, 22′ Larin, 73′ Plata – 84′ Lewandowski)

Wednesday 24/5

Elche-Seville 1-1

(25′ Morende-10′ Lamela)

Real Madrid-Rayo Vaguecano 2-1

(31′ Benzema, 89′ Rodrigo-84′ De Tomas)

Villarreal-Cádiz 2-0

(20′, 45’+1′ Jackson)

Betis-Getafe (23:00)

Espanyol-Atletico Madrid

Thursday 25/5

Mallorca-Valencia (20:30)

Osasuna-Athletic Bilbao (22:30)