Real Madrid beat Rayo Vallecano 4-1 to make it four wins in five La Liga games under Jose Mourinho. They are now joint-top of the table with Barcelona on 12 points, although Barcelona have a game in hand and a superior goal difference.But the scoreline did little to assuage the concerns inside the Bernabeu, where sections of the crowd once again voiced their frustration at the team’s performance in the second half.Everything had been going smoothly in the first half as Kylian Mbappe’s penalty, Alvaro Carreras and Jude Bellingham put Madrid 3-0 up within 35 minutes.For the first time, Madrid had Bellingham, Mbappe, Vinicius Junior and new signing Yan Diomande together in attack from the start, and the they created chances with ease. It was an impressive display of attacking football.But after the break, that same attacking setup left Madrid exposed defensively, with too much distance between the front four and the rest of the team. Rayo ended up having seven shots in the second half.
“It was a 45-minute game and then it was over,” Mourinho said in his post-match press conference. “I knew the team didn’t have the physical or mental energy and I knew that at the start of the second half the team wouldn’t be able to continue playing as they had.”Once again, Madrid needed the best of goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois to prevent a Rayo comeback, but even he could not prevent Sergio Camello from making it 3-1 in the 51st minute.Madrid lost control in midfield and, just as happened against Inter in the Champions League this week, clear boos could be heard around the Bernabeu, directed at both the team and Vinicius Jr. There were also sections of the crowd that responded with applause.Only the introduction of Arda Guler in the 72nd minute helped steady the game.“Is Real Madrid better when Guler plays? I agree,” Mourinho said when asked about the Turkey international. “Arda is very good, he has an incredible amount of quality and a positive influence on the way the team plays. Today, when he came on, he made a difference in terms of the stability of our play.”Arda Guler’s introduction brought balance to Real Madrid’s midfield (Oscar DEL POZO / AFP via Getty Images)It was Guler who then provided the assist for Mbappe to make it 4-1 and finally put the game beyond doubt.It completed a remarkable week for Guler. Before the game against Inter, he had received the award for the best young player of last season’s Champions League.It then emerged that he is close to signing a contract extension that would keep him at Madrid until 2032.But perhaps the biggest positive was the way the mood inside the Bernabeu changed with his performance.
