RAYO VALLECANO PREVIEW

Sunderland’s final preseason friendly of 2025 sees us host La Liga outfit Rayo Vallecano, only a day after we played Augsburg in Germany. Here’s the lowdown on our opposition:

LAST SEASON

Vallecano finished 8th in La Liga and will play in the Europa Conference League this season, assuming they can get past a play-off round. They will be playing either KÍ of the Faroe Islands or Neman Grodno of Belarus, you’d have to assume they’ll progress to the league stage based on that but stranger things have happened in football. Last season was a huge improvement on the campaign prior as the Madrid-based club came 17th and avoided relegation by just five points in 2023/24. The 8th placed finish was their joint-best ever, they matched it in 2013 but were denied European football due to not having the right licence. Their last, and only previous, foray into competitive European competition was in the 2000-01 season when they played in the UEFA Cup after qualifying based on UEFA Fair Play rankings, they finished 9th in 2000 in the league. This current period of time can accurately be described as their golden age then.

THE MANAGER

The Red Sashes are currently managed by 37-year-old Iñigo Pérez, he’s been in charge since February 2024, however this was an appointment that wasn’t originally meant to occur. Pérez was Andoni Iraola’s assistant at Rayo Vallecano and when Iraola left he was supposed to take up the same role at AFC Bournemouth but couldn’t due to work permit issues. He then went back to Madrid to become manager in his own right and has so far been in the hot seat for 56 games. His first match was a baptism of fire but he managed his side to a 1-1 draw with Real Madrid at home. He also had a playing career as a midfielder, retiring in 2022, and he turned out for Basconia, Athletic Bilbao, Huesca, Mallorca, Numancia and Osasuna. He was promoted to La Liga via the second tier title with his final club in 2019.

KEY PLAYERS

Right winger Jorge de Frutos was their top-scorer last season with eight goals in 39 matches. Their joint-top playmakers were second striker Isi Palazón and Álvaro García with five assists each. De Frutos also played the most games for the club last season, out of players who haven’t transferred away as someone else (Adrián Embarba who’s gone to UD Almería) matched him, with the attacker featuring in 39 of their 42 competitive matches. Their only permanent signings this summer have been 29-year-old goalkeeper Augusto Batalla from River Plate and Italy international centre back Luis Felipe from Marseille.

OTHER INFO

Former Brazil and Spain international Diego Costa is one of their former players, the striker had a loan spell with them in 2012 and scored 10 goals in 16 matches in La Liga.

England international winger Laurie Cunningham was tragically killed at the age of just 33 in 1989 while playing for Rayo Vallecano due to a car crash, he was the first ever English player to feature for neighbours Real Madrid and had not long before won an FA Cup with Wimbledon.

This will be the first meeting between Sunderland and Little Thunderbolt (one of their nicknames) in either non competitive or competitive football.

Founded in 1924, Vallecano adopted the red stripe on their kit in 1949 when they briefly became an affiliate of Atlético Madrid and it was a feature inspired by Argentinian side River Plate too.

They’ve been a regular feature in the top and second Spanish flights since the 1950s and have rarely dipped below the third tier. They’ve won one second division title (most recently in 2018) and four third division titles (most recently in 2008).

PREDICTION

Our second string outfit is likely to feature in this one so I’m going to predict we’ll lose 3-1 given that they are a decent team.