Having been beaten 2-1 by Real Madrid in their last LaLiga game which came two weeks ago, Madrid’s other giant looked to heap more misery on the pre-match outsiders.
But they almost granted their opponents a real prize in the opening stages, as Nobel Mendy turned Nicolas Gonzalez’s cross against his own crossbar.
Playing in the unfamiliar surroundings of CD Leganes’ Estadio Ontime Butarque due to the poor condition of the pitch at Vallecas, Vallecano struggled to adapt to their new surroundings and almost found themselves behind when Alex Baena whistled an effort inches over the bar from 25 yards out.
Rayo grew into proceedings as the first half progressed though, and their improvement bore fruit too five minutes before the break, when Andrei Ratiu’s driven cross fell kindly for Fran Perez, who fired into an unguarded goal.
A half-strength Atletico were visibly shell shocked, and their misery was compounded before the break when the 'hosts' doubled their advantage.
Isi Palazon’s strike from the edge of the area proved to be the catalyst, forcing Jan Oblak to make a stunning one-handed save that fell perfectly into the path of a grateful Oscar Valentin who tapped in from close range.
With no change in fortunes for Atletico in the early second-half minutes, a visibly unhappy Diego Simeone used all five substitutes far before time, but even with fresh legs on the field, they weren’t looking overly threatening by any stretch.
Gonzalez had the visitors’ best effort on goal in the second half when he took matters into his own hands, burst into the area and finally forced Augusto Batalla into action, but the Rayo stopper was equal to his low drive.
It was against the run of play that Rayo added further to Atletico’s humiliation with a little under 15 minutes to go, as Alvaro Garcia Rivera’s teasing far-post delivery was powered home by the head of Mendy.
There were no real positives to take from such a humbling defeat for Atleti, whose top-four position is now looking significantly less secure than it did before the weekend.
Contrastingly, it was a huge victory for Vallecano though, who are out of the drop zone and will undoubtedly now have a much more positive outlook on their survival hopes.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Nobel Mendy (Rayo Vallecano)
