Real Madrid miss chance to go top after being held by Rayo Vallecano

Real Madrid failed to return to the top of LaLiga after being held to a goalless draw by city rivals Rayo Vallecano.

Carlo Ancelotti’s side need to take all three points to edge ahead of Girona on goal difference, but could not break down their stubborn opponents despite dominating possession at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu.

Vinicius Jr did have the ball in the net midway through the second half, only for his effort to be ruled out due to Joselu being offside in the build-up.

@RealMadrid 0-0 @RayoVallecano#RealMadridRayo | #Emirates pic.twitter.com/ZIn9GAT5HV

— Real Madrid C.F. (@realmadrid) November 5, 2023

Rayo Vallecano have now gone eight games without defeat in LaLiga, although six of those have been draws, and they never threatened to claim a first win at the Bernabeu since 1996.

The home side should have taken the lead with just five minutes gone when Federico Valverde pounced on a loose pass to surge into the area, only for the Uruguay international to hit his shot straight at goalkeeper Stole Dimitrievski.

Bellingham, who was presented with his LaLiga player of the month award for October before kick-off, had a shot blocked from the resulting corner but soon had the Real fans holding their breath as he landed awkwardly on his left shoulder after attempting to chest the ball to a team-mate.

The 20-year-old looked in severe pain as he received treatment for more than two minutes, but was thankfully able to continue.

An uncharacteristic mistake from Luke Modric gifted the visitors a rare sight of goal on 15 minutes, only for Alvaro Garcia to drag his left-footed effort badly wide and the action soon switched back to the other end as Joselu sent a glancing header wide from a Modric corner.

Joselu and Fran Garcia both had shots off target before the former brought a superb save out of Dimitrievski with a first-time effort after being set up by Vinicius, while Bellingham produced a deft turn on the edge of area to beat two defenders before firing over the bar.

Vinicius should have opened the scoring almost immediately after the restart but failed to connect with a delightful cross from Modric, who curled the ball to the back post with the outside of his right foot.

And when Vinicius finally did find the target on 66 minutes the goal was disallowed due to Joselu being in an offside position when he flicked the ball on to his team-mate.

The home side continued to press forward but Dimitrievski was forced into action on few occasions and easily gathered a tame effort from substitute Rodrygo in the third of seven minutes of added time.