PENALTY CURSE VERSUS LONG-RANGE SHOT SPECIALISTS: POCHETTINO'S RECORD IN DANGER

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Rayo Vallecano - RCD Espanyol

April 4th, 2025

Vallecas Stadium in Madrid will witness an interesting clash between two teams with contrasting streaks. Rayo Vallecano comes after a valuable away win 2-0 over Alavés, but is also experiencing their longest home series without a victory this season (3 losses, 2 draws, 1 win). Espanyol, on the other hand, is gaining stability - after a period when they lost 8 out of 10 matches between September and December 2024, they have recorded only three defeats in their last 13 duels.

Head-to-head matches between both teams have been balanced in recent years. Rayo Vallecano has won three of their last seven home duels against Espanyol in LaLiga (1 draw, 3 losses), which is the same number of victories as in the previous 11 mutual matches at their stadium (3 wins, 5 draws, 3 losses).

However, current form speaks in favor of the visitors. Espanyol has won the last two matches against Rayo Vallecano and if they win for the third time, they would repeat a series they last achieved between 2002 and 2012, when they won against the red and whites five times in a row.

But Rayo can rely on their goal productivity against this opponent. The Madrid team has scored in each of the last 16 mutual matches with Espanyol in LaLiga (a total of 23 goals). They have a longer goal-scoring series only against Athletic Club, when they scored in 17 consecutive matches between 1996 and 2013 (27 goals).

Interestingly, Espanyol has scored exactly one goal in each of their last eight league matches. The Catalan team also excels in long-range shots - 22% of their goals this LaLiga season (6 out of 27) have come from outside the penalty area, which is the highest proportion of all teams in the competition.

Rayo Vallecano is fighting with a very specific record. Along with Wolverhampton Wanderers, they are the only teams in the five major European leagues that have not been awarded a single penalty this season. They are only the second team in the last decade that has not been awarded any penalty after the first 29 rounds of a LaLiga season - after Atlético Madrid in the 2022/23 season.

Rayo's midfielder Pathé Ciss is experiencing his best scoring season. The Senegalese midfielder has scored three goals in 25 LaLiga matches in 2024/25, which is one more than in his previous two seasons combined (two goals in 63 matches).

On the visitors' side, Javi Puado stands out, having already scored nine goals in 27 matches this season, which is his highest number in a single LaLiga campaign. Paradoxically, Rayo Vallecano is, alongside Real Madrid, the only team against which he has failed to either score or assist in the top division, despite having faced them five times.

Espanyol coach Manolo González can achieve a remarkable success. After the August victory in Cornellà (2-1), he could become only the second Espanyol coach who would manage to beat Rayo Vallecano twice in one LaLiga season. So far, only legendary Mauricio Pochettino achieved this in the 2011/12 season.

We thank OPTA for providing the statistical data.