Lights on at Rayo Vallecano
The La Liga match between Rayo Vallecano and Real Madrid, which was postponed Sunday after a stadium lights failure, is on as scheduled for Monday at 1:45 p.m. ET after electricians were able to fix the outage, Marca and As both reported Monday.
A test of the stadium lights was successfully completed at 7 a.m. ET and engineers determined the lights were functional, Rayo Vallecano general director Luis Yanez told As during a press conference.
Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho aims to put Real Madrid's poor start to the Primera Division campaign behind him, despite the match delay.
Real Madrid has won only one of its first four matches and is 11 points behind Barcelona ahead of the rescheduled trip to Vallecas.
Real brings with the team a 3-2 Champions League victory over Manchester City at the Bernabeu last Tuesday, in which they came from behind to win in the closing stages.
"Things are going to change from now on. Now everyone is going to see a different Real Madrid,'' defender Pepe said after that match.
Although Mourinho raised eyebrows on Tuesday by leaving defender Sergio Ramos on the bench and picking teenager Raphael Varane, Ramos was in the lineup for Sunday's ill-fated match.
And the Portuguese has another dilemma in midfield -- he must also decide whether to start with playmakers Luka Modric and Mesut Ozil, who came off the bench and helped spark the comeback from 2-1 down, or stick with Sami Khedira and Michael Essien.
Opponents Rayo are in the unfamiliar position of being six places and three points above their more illustrious rivals -- and right-back Tito believes all at the club should enjoy Sunday's contest.
He said: "We are expecting the best version of Real Madrid, the one that played so well on Tuesday -- it doesn't matter who plays.
"It's true they haven't got into their stride in the league but they will soon find their rhythm.''
Tito highlighted the never-say-die attitude of Francisco Jemez's team, which was in evidence on Sunday in the Primera Division game against Real's city rivals Atletico.
The Super Cup winners appeared to have the points in the bag when they led 4-0 at the Vicente Calderon -- however, three Rayo goals in the final 10 minutes meant for an uncomfortable finish for the home support.
Information from Press Association was used in this report.
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