Gareth Bale scored the first and the third goal as Real Madrid came back from 2-0 down to beat Rayo Vallecano 3-2 at a rain-soaked Vallecas.
It was hardly the best preparation for the trip to Manchester on Monday as they were made to work for three points that keep them in the title race.
They also lost Karim Benzema to a knee injury in the process and must now wait nervously to see if both the Frenchman and the absent Cristiano Ronaldo can return for Tuesday’s first leg.
Gareth Bale scored the first and the third goal as Real Madrid came back from 2-0 down to beat Rayo Vallecano at a rain-soaked Vallecas.
It was hardly the best preparation for the trip to Manchester on Monday as they were made to work for three points that keep them in the title race.
They also lost Karim Benzema to a knee injury in the process and must now wait nervously to see if both the Frenchman and the absent Cristiano Ronaldo can return for Tuesday’s first leg.
Gareth Bale celebrates after scoring the winner in Real Madrid's 3-2 victory over Rayo Vallecano
Bale makes no mistake as he fires the ball home to pick up a crucial three La Liga points for Real Madrid
Real Madrid players celebrate after Bale's goal as they came back from two goals down at the Vallecas
In the meantime they do have football’s most expensive ever signing fit and in form and Bale lived up to that £86m price tag, getting Madrid out of jail after they had put themselves behind bars and tried to throw away the key in a shocking first 15 minutes.
Ronaldo was missing his first minutes in the league this season so the stage was set for Bale but it was instead another winger, another former Manchester United forward of slightly less acclaim that made the early impression.
Bebe was a £7m flop at Old Trafford but he stole the show in the first half as Spain’s poorest club rattled the richest, attacking the end of their stadium that has no stand behind it because there is no room to build one and no money to buy the apartment blocks that overlook the 14,000-capacity stadium.
From those apartment blocks Rayo fans watched from their balconies as Ronaldo-less Real were undone in just a quarter of an hour.
The first goal came on seven minutes and it was Bebe who made it, getting past Pepe and crossing for Adrián Embarba to make it 1-0. Seven minutes later they were two goals up with Miku sweeping a loose ball in the area past the helpless Keylor Navas.
Madrid were in pieces. Bebe was running Pepe and Danilo ragged, Modric could hardly watch from the bench sat alongside Sergio Ramos who had also been rested for what should have been a Madrid victory regardless of the players they had missing.
Bebe had enjoyed running at Madrid, now he was shooting on sight. His first effort hit a cameraman but his second one was as accurate as it was well-struck, and Navas had to be at full stretch to make the save.
Rayo Vallecano's Adrian Embarba (left) puts the hosts 1-0 ahead in the seventh minute
Real Madrid goalkeeper Keylor Navas (back) shouts to his team-mates after conceding early in the match
Embarba (left) celebrates his opening goal with Rayo Vallecano team-mate Jozabed Sanchez
Miku slots the ball into the back of the net past goalkeeper Navas to put the hosts 2-0 up in 14 minutes
Real came back into it on 36 minutes when Toni Kroos took a corner and Bale rose above the Rayo defence to head the ball past Juan Carlos. It was his 17th goal of the season and his eighth header.
Rayo were not knocked out of their stride by Real’s goal and almost made it 3-1. This time it was Trashorras who crossed from the right and Embarba who came screeching in at the back post but got under his header.
Even the elements seemed to be against Real Madrid. It had started to rain heavily right on kick-off and the sun came out at half-time as the Rayo supporters pinched themselves at what they were watching.
There was more bad news for Real Madrid just before the break when Karim Benzema hobbled off after a knock on his right knee and he now looks a doubt for Tuesday’s first leg against Manchester City.
Bale rises above the Rayo Vallecano defence to score with a header and get Real Madrid back into the match
Bale carries the ball back to the halfway line after pulling a goal back for Real Madrid
The second half brought better news for Madrid when Lucas Vazquez, who had replaced Benzema, got up well to powerfully head in Danilo’s cross.
One of the smallest men on the pitch had scored with his head, underlining the fragility of the home side’s defence – no team have let in more goals in Spain this season.
Real now had the upper hand and when Isco’s pass sent Bale flying down the right Vazquez was screaming for an early cross to the back post. When it came, he directed the ball past the Rayo keeper.
Bale fired a free-kick into the wall as it seemed Rayo’s high-risk defence might hold out but with nine minutes left he got the winner.
Embarba, who scored Rayo’s first goal, gave the ball straight to the Cardiff Express and he raced away from the back-tracking Rayo defenders to score past Juan Carlos.
Bale (right) and Raphael Varane applaud the supporters after the match as the rain pours down
Real Madrid goalkeeper Navas throws himself to his left to make a stunning save during the match
Real Madrid manager Zinedine Zidane watches from the touchline as his side produce a comeback win
MATCH FACTS
RAYO VALLECANO: Juan Carlos 5, Tito 5 (Rat 78), Quini 6, Amaya 6, Crespo 6, Quini 6, Jozabed 6 (Iturra 54), Pablo Hernandez 6 (Javi Guerra 54), Embarba 6, Bebe 7, Miku 6
Subs not used: Dorado Ramirez, Contreiras Goncalves, Rodriguez Oterino, Montiel Caballero
Goals: Embarba 7, Miku 14
Booked: Amaya, Crespo, Rat, Jozabed, Iturra,
REAL MADRID: Navas 7, Danilo 5, Varane 6, Pepe 6, Marcelo 6, Kovacic 5 (Rodriguez 78), Kroos 5, Isco 6, Bale 8, Benzema 6 (Vazquez 42, 7), Jese 4 (Modric 63)
Subs not used: Ramos, Nacho, Casilla, Arbeloa
Goals: Bale 35 81, Vazquez 52
Booked: Kovacic
Referee: Alejandro José Hernández Hernández
Attendance: 13,314
*Player ratings by PETE JENSON
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