Real Madrid secured a 2-1 victory over Rayo Vallecano at the Bernabeu, thanks to Rodrygo’s 89th-minute goal, marking their return to winning ways.
Despite Vinicius Jr’s absence due to a knee problem, his teammates displayed a powerful demonstration of solidarity for the winger, who had experienced racial abuse during the match against Valencia. They took to the field wearing Vinicius Jr’s shirt and held up a banner proclaiming, “racists, out of football.”
Karim Benzema opened the scoring for Real Madrid in the 31st minute. However, Rayo Vallecano thought they had salvaged a draw when Raul de Tomas equalized in the 84th minute.
Nevertheless, Rodrygo stole the spotlight as he cut inside onto his right foot and calmly slotted the ball past Stole Dimitrievski from the edge of the area, securing the crucial winning goal for Real Madrid.
— Real Madrid C.F. 🇬🇧🇺🇸 (@realmadriden) May 24, 2023
Victory moved them back into second place in LaLiga as city rivals Atletico squandered a three-goal lead to draw 3-3 with second-bottom Espanyol.
Goals from Cesar Montes, Joselu and Vinicius Souza cancelled out strikes from Saul Niguez, Antoine Griezmann and Yannick Carrasco and left Espanyol three points from safety with two matches remaining and still in danger of suffering a second top-flight relegation in four seasons.
Two goals from Nicolas Jackson secured a 2-0 win over Cadiz which guaranteed Villarreal fifth place, after Real Betis lost 1-0 to struggling Getafe who in turn boosted their survival chances, while already-relegated Elche drew 1-1 at home to Sevilla.
Inter Milan warmed up for their Champions League final with Manchester City by retaining the Coppa Italia courtesy of two goals from Lautaro Martinez in a 2-1 win over Fiorentina in Rome.
Nicolas Gonzalez had given Fiorentina a third-minute lead but Inter’s Argentina international struck twice before half-time to secure the club’s ninth victory in the competition.