Rayo VallecanoGround: Campo de Fútbol de Vallecas (Estadio de Vallecas) Visits: 1 Date: 3rd January 2016 Match: Rayo Vallecano - Real Sociedad 2-2 (Primera División) Attendance: 10 756
Rayo Vallecano are based in the Vallecas area of (southeastern) Madrid. Their ground is literally only a few metres from the Portazgo metro station and from Atocha Renfe it only takes 7-8 minutes. My main target for the weekend was Valencia vs Real Madrid at Mestalla. Once kick-off times were confirmed I was delighted to find out it was possible to have a Super Sunday. That meant attending two matches in Primera División the same day. The match at Estadio de Vallecas would end around 13.50 and at 15.40 there was then a high-speed train to Valencia. I would be in Valencia 17.30 giving three hours to find my hotel and go to Mestalla. Rayo Vallecano don´t sell tickets online and already on Saturday morning I had been to the ground buying my ticket. I was in the upper tier of the North Stand, in the section next to the away fans. At least I thought so, once inside I realised my seat was IN the away section (which now was two blocks instead of one). I asked a steward and he said I could not sit where my ticket said. Several Rayo fans then appeared with the similar seats and the stewards eventually decided we could indeed sit where our tickets said. They simply moved the cordon. As my block filled up with fans it turned out 80-90 % of them were away fans. Brilliant organisation! The two sets of fans seem to get along well though and there was not a hint of trouble. People chatted to each other and everyone was very friendly.
The ground actually only have three stands but behind the east end there is simply no room to build a stand. The south and north stands are both two-tiered and covered. In total Estadio de Vallecas has a capacity of 14 000 which is more than enough for most Rayo Vallecano home games. In my previous three games I had only seen three goals but today was to be a much better day goalwise. Rayo scored an early goal but before half-time Real Sociedad equalized and it was 1-1 at half-time. In the second half it started to rain but thankfully I was under a roof for this game. On the pitch both teams wanted the three points and it was quite an entertaining half for the 10 756 who were at the game. Rayo made it 2-1 in the 51st minute but some sloppy defending meant Real Sociedad could once again equalize. Both teams went for the winner but the game ended 2-2. As soon as the final whistle went I hurried from my seat to the nearby metro station. 10 minutes later I was back at Atocha Renfe and I could walk to my hotel, where I picked up my bag before having a late lunch. My train departed on time and around 17.45 I was at my hotel in Valencia. The game I had waited for since I booked this trip come was now only a few hours away.
Only a few metres to the nearest metro station!
Rear of the North Stand
Rear of the West Stand
Player´s entrance
Graffiti
Rear of the South Stand
Rear of the southeast corner
East End
South Stand
West Stand
Players and officials entering the field
Real Sociedad fans
Real Sociedad fans
Kick-off
View of play
1-0
Free-kick
South Stand
View of play
West Stand
North Stand
Gool for Rayo
Pano
Pano |