Preview: Rayo Vallecano vs Neman - prediction, team news, lineups

Rayo Vallecano will play their first European home match in 24 years when they welcome Neman to Vallecas for Thursday's Conference League playoff clash.

The Spanish enter the second leg with a narrow lead to protect after picking up a 1-0 victory in last week's clash in the neutral venue of Szeged, with Neman unable to play at home due to UEFA actions.

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Match preview

Rayo enjoyed a successful 2024-25 campaign under Inigo Perez, recording 13 wins, 13 draws and 12 defeats to finish in eighth place and secure Conference League qualification.

As a result, Los Franjirrojos are competing in their first European campaign since reaching the UEFA Cup quarter-finals in 2000-01. 

Rayo kicked off their European adventure with a narrow 1-0 victory in the first leg of their playoff tie against Neman, courtesy of Alvaro Garcia's 77th-minute effort. 

That made it back-to-back victories for a team that started their La Liga campaign with a 3-1 away win over Girona, but they were unable to make it three wins on the bounce in Monday's clash with Athletic Bilbao.

Oihan Sancet's second-half penalty proved to be the only goal of the game at San Mames as Los Franjirrojos fell to their first defeat of the season.

Rayo will have to quickly pick themselves up for Thursday's second leg, and they will be looking to maintain the club's unbeaten record at Vallecas after they won five and drew one of their six European home matches in the 2000-01 campaign. 

Meanwhile, Neman are competing in Conference League qualifying after finishing in second place and three points adrift of Belarusian Premier League winners Dinamo Minsk in 2024.

While Rayo have started their journey in the playoff round, Neman have had to negotiate three rounds of qualifying to reach this stage of the competition.

Igor Kovalevich's side saw off Urartu and Kosice in the first two qualifying rounds, before they prevailed on penalties in their third-round qualifying clash against KI Klaksvik. 

Neman are now looking to reach the main draw of European competition for the first time in their history, but they will have to overturn a first leg deficit if they are to achieve that feat.

The Belarusian side have won two of their previous three away games in Conference League qualifying, although they lost 2-0 to KI in their most recent European away trip.

They are aiming to become just the third team to win a competitive game at Vallecas in 2025, after Villarreal and Espanyol recorded La Liga victories in February and April respectively. 

Rayo Vallecano Conference League form:

Rayo Vallecano form (all competitions):

Neman Conference League form:

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Team News

Rayo are still waiting for summer addition Nobel Mendy to recover from injury, while Abdul Mumin remains sidelined with an anterior cruciate ligament injury.

After making changes at the weekend, Ivan Balliu, Jozhua Vertrouwd and Pacha Espino are set to return to the backline for the second leg.

There could also be recalls for Gerard Gumbau, Sergio Camello, Randy Nteka and Fran Perez after dropping down to the bench on Monday.

As for the visitors, they are unable to call upon Leonard Gweth, who has not featured since the end of June due to an Achilles injury.

Experienced attacker Egor Zubovich is pushing for a starting berth after featuring as a half-time substitute in last week's first leg.

Kovalevich is expected to keep faith with a back four of Konstantin Kuchinskiy, Ivan Sadovnichiy, Yegor Parkhomenko and Yuriy Pantya. 

Rayo Vallecano possible starting lineup:

Batala; Balliu, Lejeune, Vertrouwd, Pacha; Gumbau, Lopez; Camello, Diaz, Perez; Nteka

Neman possible starting lineup:

Belov; Kuchinskiy, Sadovnichiy, Parkomenko, Pantya; Yakimov, Kozlov; Evdokimov, Zubovich, Suchkov; Savitskiy

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We say: Rayo Vallecano 2-0 Neman (Rayo to win 3-0 on aggregate)

Rayo will feel that they did the hard work by picking up a narrow win in Hungary, but they will have to ward against any complacency in Thursday's second leg.

We believe that Rayo will remain focused and professional to claim a comfortable win in front of a relatively small but raucous and dedicated crowd in Vallecas. 

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

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