Real Madrid rout Rayo Vallecano 4-1 at the Bernabeu

Real Madrid returned to winning ways with a 4-1 victory over Rayo Vallecano at the Bernabeu on Saturday, four days after their Champions League opener against Inter.

Alvaro Carreras started at left-back, was at the heart of the opening goal and then got on the scoresheet himself. In the 14th minute he was fouled inside the box by Florian Lejeune, and Kylian Mbappe stepped up to convert the penalty. Three minutes later Carreras doubled the lead, finishing at the near post after a one-two with Mbappe.

Jude Bellingham made it 3-0 on 35 minutes, cushioning home a cutback from Vinicius Junior to cap a first half in which Real were in complete control.

Rayo came back into it early in the second half. A pass from Antonio Rudiger was cut out and fell to Sergio Camello, who poked in to make it 3-1 in the 51st minute. For the next 20 minutes Rayo were the better side; Giorgi Tsitaishvili passed up two good chances in the 64th minute. Real held on and Mbappe added a fourth in stoppage time to settle the contest.

Thibaut Courtois made several important saves, denying Camello and Pedro Diaz at key moments. Carlo Ancelotti's side move up to 2nd in La Liga, level on points with Barcelona for at least a day before the Catalans travel to Levante. The win also answers last weekend's defeat at Real Betis, in which Mbappe missed a penalty of his own — a miss he put right from the spot against Rayo.