Madrid's Ruthless Response to Betis Slip

Madrid’s response to their Betis slip was ruthless.

Stung by that shock defeat, they tore into Rayo with a 4-1 win on Saturday night, making it four victories from their first five La Liga games and reminding everyone exactly where the power still lies in the capital.

Kylian Mbappe set the tone. He rolled in the opener from the penalty spot, calm and clinical, then turned creator within minutes, sliding a pass through for Alvaro Carreras to double the lead. Rayo were rocked. Madrid smelled blood.

Vinicius Jr twisted the knife. Bursting down the flank, he picked out Jude Bellingham with a low cut-back, and the Englishman did the rest, sweeping in to stretch the advantage. At that point, it looked like Madrid might run up a cricket score.

Rayo did at least flicker after the break. Sergio Camello pulled one back to briefly disturb the home crowd’s comfort, a reminder of Madrid’s midweek Champions League workload and the miles already in those legs. The hosts eased off, the tempo dipped, and fatigue started to show.

But Mbappe wasn’t done.

Deep into stoppage time, he stepped up again to slam the door on any hint of a comeback, his second of the night sealing the points and extending Madrid’s unbeaten home run against Rayo to 17 matches, a streak stretching all the way back to 1996. In the process, he matched Karim Benzema’s 2021-22 mark of six goals in the first five league games, a record that underlines how quickly he has made this stage his own.

On the touchline, Jose Mourinho saw both the glamour and the grind.

“We score a lot of goals, but we also miss a lot of chances. I told my staff that one day there will be a team that will pay for all these missed chances (laughs),” the Madrid coach said afterwards, as quoted by MadridXtra. “There will be a match where we score seven goals.”

He knew, though, that the game had effectively been decided by half-time.

“We played for 45 minutes and then it was over. I knew the players were tired and couldn't play another half like that. Look at how Bellingham played the final ten minutes, with no energy.”

That weariness framed the second half, yet it also highlighted another emerging pillar of this side: Bernardo Silva.

Signed in the summer as one of the club’s headline arrivals, the Portuguese midfielder is beginning to knit Madrid’s play together. He drops deep, dictates rhythm, and gives structure to their possession, offering the kind of control Mourinho craves when legs start to fade around him.

Reflecting on his growing role, Silva spelled out his brief.

“We are happy with the three points, but now we need to get ready for the next game. What Jose Mourinho asks of me? To help in the build-up with the ball. He wants me to give the team more fluidity so we can progress the ball. I'm trying to adapt and to give the best version of myself.”

Mbappe breaking records, Bellingham emptying the tank, Bernardo Silva quietly taking command of the ball: Madrid’s attack is already humming. The question now is not whether they can blow teams away for 45 minutes.

It’s how terrifying they’ll look once they find the legs to do it for 90.