Rayo Vallecano 0 - Real Madrid 1

Rayo: Keller; Alcázar (Bolic 58'), De Quintana, Ballesteros, Mingo; Mauro (Glaucio 83'), Helder, Quevedo, Michel; Luis Cembranos (Poschner 83'); Bolo. 4-4-1-1.
Real Madrid: César; Michel Salgado, Iván Campo, Karanka (Geremi 79'), Roberto Carlos; Figo, Celades, Makelele, McManaman (Flavio Conceiçao 65'); Guti, Savio (Raúl 58'). 4-4-2.

Team changes: Rayo: No change / Madrid: Roberto Carlos, Celades, McManaman, Guti for Hierro, Iván Helguera, Raúl, Morientes.

Goals:
0-1. 39. Guti. Followed up after Keller failed to hold Roberto Carlos free kick.

Real Madrid all but wrapped up the league title with a narrow victory against city rivals Rayo Vallecano. Only Deportivo's victory at Oviedo prevented Madrid from celebrating this weekend, but with six points separating the top two and with direct goal average in favour of the team from the capital, a victory next week at home to Alavés will assure them of their first championship in four years. Del Bosque was missing the suspended Hierro and Helguera and the injured Morientes, and with Raúl still weak after a virus infection midweek, Guti and Savio started up front, with Roberto Carlos coming back after a one match ban and McManaman and Celades returning in midfield. Rayo were still looking to make sure of their place in the first division for next season, having dropped down the table with the worst record of anyone in the second half of this season. Despite not having won in seven weeks, Juande Ramos decided to leave his starting line up unchanged from the team that lost heavily at Barcelona last week.

In the first attack of the game Keller and Savio clashed heads, the Brazilian forward having to leave the field temporarily and looking groggy for most of the first half. A couple of minutes later at the other end Quevedo's header was blocked at point blank range by César, who was keeping Iker Casillas out of the number one position for the second match in a row. The game was fairly even until Madrid won a free kick outside of the area five minutes before half time, and Roberto Carlos stepped up to fire the ball at Keller. Speed cameras clocked the kick at 123 Kph (that's 78 mph for those who think in miles), and although Keller tried to catch it, the ball bobbled out of his hands and fell to Guti, who clipped it back into the net for his seventeenth goal of the season.

The game was played in a tense atmosphere, with Real Madrid fans swelling the crowd to capacity for the first time this season, and Rayo president Teresa Rivero making declarations before the game which upset the Real Madrid camp. Ballesteros and Figo were constantly niggling at each other, and the Portuguese star tried to get his marker sent off when he fell to the ground in the penalty area, leaving the field on a stretcher apparently in agony and then returning right as rain seconds afterwards when he realized that referee Daudén Ibáñez was not interested. Five minutes in to the second half though Daudén did go over the top when Celades appeared to trip Cembranos, dishing out yellow cards to the Rayo players as they themselves asked for a card for the Madrid player. One of those was to Helder, who had been booked two minutes earlier, and Rayo were down to ten men.

Ramos however decided he had to go for it, and brought on an extra forward Bolic, with Del Bosque replacing the still groggy Savio with Raúl. Guti hit the foot of the post with a shot from the edge of the area and Keller kept Rayo in the game with a string of saves from Figo, Guti and Raúl. Then Rayo finally got a grip, with Michel hitting the crossbar and César saving from Bolic out on the right. But they eventually ran out of steam, and after Keller once again kept out Guti, Daudén brought the game to an end. Madrid were not quite there, and police had to dismantle the barriers they had put up around the Cibeles fountain as news of Depor's victory filtered through. They will be getting them out again next Saturday though, and this time it is likely that the players will be getting their feet wet at their traditional point of celebration. Rayo drop to fourteenth, and although they should really be safe with 40 points, a combination of bad results could still see them down in the bottom three by the end of the season.