Atletico Madrid vs Rayo Vallecano Betting Tips

The 1st leg took place in Vallecas last week and finished all square. Nacho Martínez gave Rayo a surprise lead in the 1st half but Manchester United target Saul Niguez came off the bench to grab an important leveller for Atleti after the break.

Both sides made plenty of changes for the game, particularly Atleti who left a host of regular first teamers on the bench or out altogether. They may go a little stronger here as with Real Madrid out of the competition, they are clear 2nd favourites to Barcelona and will want to avoid an embarrassing exit against their city rivals. However it’s still likely to be far from a 1st choice eleven that Diego Simeone puts out given the league is the priority and they have a long trip to the Canary Islands on Sunday to face Las Palmas.

Rayo Vallecano went a bit stronger in the 1st leg but still left some of their main players on the bench and are without a win in 8 matches now in all competitions after a damaging 2-1 defeat at Levante at the weekend left them only 1 point off the bottom of La Liga.

Logic would dictate that Atletico, who have won their last 8 at the Vicente Calderon should win but there are question-marks about the strength in depth of their squad and the 1st leg did little to quell fears that an injury crisis could see them fall away badly in the title race. A few fringe players will get their chance again here and they should have enough to win the game but 6 of their last 7 home wins have all been by a solitary goal and backing a Rayo Vallecano side that has scored in all of their last 5 away games, at 2.000 with a +1.5 Asian Handicap could be a smart move here.

Atletico will most likely leave a few of their stars on the bench and they could come on to win the tie late on and at 15/2 Atleti are worth a punt to run out 2-1 winners.