# 2021–22 Rayo Vallecano season

The 2021–22 season was the 98th season in the existence of Rayo Vallecano and the club's first season back in the top flight of Spanish football. In addition to the domestic league, Rayo Vallecano participated in this season's edition of the Copa del Rey.

## Players
### First-team squad

    As of 2 February 2022
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 1 | GK | FRA | Luca Zidane |
| 2 | DF | SRB | Nikola Maraš (on loan from Almería) |
| 3 | FW | COL | Radamel Falcao |
| 4 | MF | ESP | Mario Suárez (3rd captain) |
| 5 | DF | ESP | Alejandro Catena |
| 6 | MF | ESP | Santi Comesaña (vice-captain) |
| 7 | FW | ESP | Isi Palazón |
| 8 | FW | ARG | Óscar Trejo (captain) |
| 9 | MF | FRA | Randy Nteka |
| 10 | FW | CPV | Bebé |
| 11 | FW | SEN | Mamadou Sylla (on loan from Alavés) |
| 12 | MF | ESP | Unai López |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 13 | GK | MKD | Stole Dimitrievski |
| 16 | FW | ESP | Sergi Guardiola (on loan from Valladolid) |
| 17 | MF | ESP | Martín Merquelanz (on loan from Real Sociedad) |
| 18 | MF | ESP | Álvaro García |
| 19 | DF | POR | Kévin Rodrigues (on loan from Real Sociedad) |
| 20 | DF | ALB | Iván Balliu |
| 21 | MF | SEN | Pathé Ciss |
| 23 | MF | ESP | Óscar Valentín |
| 24 | DF | MNE | Esteban Saveljich |
| 32 | DF | ESP | Mario Hernández |
| 33 | DF | ESP | Fran García |

### Reserve team

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 26 | DF | ESP | Sergio Gimeno |
| 27 | DF | ESP | Iker Recio |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 28 | MF | ESP | Álvaro Aguirre |
| 31 | MF | ESP | Manu Navarro |

### Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | GK | COL | Iván Arboleda (on loan to Newell's Old Boys until 30 June 2022) |
| — | GK | ESP | Miguel Morro (on loan to Fuenlabrada until 30 June 2022) |
| — | DF | ESP | Jorge Moreno (on loan to Cultural Leonesa until 30 June 2022) |
| — | DF | ESP | Martín Pascual (on loan to Villarreal B until 30 June 2022) |
| — | MF | ESP | Joni Montiel (on loan to Oviedo until 30 June 2022) |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| — | MF | ESP | José Ángel Pozo (on loan to Al Ahli SC until 30 June 2022) |
| — | FW | GUI | Lass Bangoura (on loan to Lamia until 30 June 2022) |
| — | FW | ESP | Andrés Martín (on loan to Tenerife until 30 June 2022) |
| — | FW | ESP | Sergio Moreno (on loan to Amorebieta until 30 June 2022) |

## Transfers
### In

| Date | Player | From | Type | Fee |
| 30 June 2021 | Sergio Moreno | Mirandés | Loan return | Loan return |
| 13 July 2021 | Fran García | Real Madrid Castilla | Transfer | Undisclosed |
| 14 July 2021 | Iván Balliu | Almería | Transfer | Free |
| 4 September 2021 | Radamel Falcao | Galatasaray | Transfer | Free |

### Out

| Date | Player | To | Type | Fee |
| 30 June 2021 | Antoñín | Granada | Loan return | Loan return |
| 30 June 2021 | Fran García | Real Madrid Castilla | Loan return | Loan return |
| 30 June 2021 | Iván Martos | Almería | Loan return | Loan return |

## Pre-season and friendlies

Win  Draw  Loss  Fixtures

## Competitions
### Overall record

| Competition | First match | Last match | Starting round | Final position | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record |
| Competition | First match | Last match | Starting round | Final position | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % |
| La Liga | 15 August 2021 | 20 May 2022 | Matchday 1 | 12th | 38 | 11 | 9 | 18 | 39 | 50 | −11 | 028.95 |
| Copa del Rey | 2 December 2021 | 3 March 2022 | First round | Semi-finals | 7 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 6 | +4 | 057.14 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | Total | 45 | 15 | 11 | 19 | 49 | 56 | −7 | 033.33 |
Last updated: 20 May 2022 Source: Soccerway

### La Liga
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 10 | Osasuna | 38 | 12 | 11 | 15 | 37 | 51 | −14 | 47 |
| 11 | Celta Vigo | 38 | 12 | 10 | 16 | 43 | 43 | 0 | 46 |
| 12 | Rayo Vallecano | 38 | 11 | 9 | 18 | 39 | 50 | −11 | 42 |
| 13 | Elche | 38 | 11 | 9 | 18 | 40 | 52 | −12 | 42 |
| 14 | Espanyol | 38 | 10 | 12 | 16 | 40 | 53 | −13 | 42 |
* 1 2 3 Head-to-head points: Rayo Vallecano 9, Elche 7, Espanyol 1.

#### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Last updated: 20 May 2022. Source: La Liga

#### Results by round

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 |
| Ground | A | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | H |
| Result | L | L | W | D | W | W | W | L | W | L | W | D | L | W | D | W | L | W | L | D | W | L | L | L | L | L | L | D | L | D | D | L | W | D | D | L | L | L |
| Position | 20 | 20 | 10 | 12 | 10 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 9 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 14 | 11 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 |

#### Matches

The league fixtures were announced on 30 June 2021.

### Copa del Rey
## Statistics
### Appearances and goals

| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | La Liga | La Liga | Copa del Rey | Copa del Rey |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Goalkeepers ||||||||||
| 1 | GK | FRA | Luca Zidane | 13 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| 13 | GK | MKD | Stole Dimitrievski | 33 | 0 | 30+1 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 25 | GK | COL | Iván Arboleda | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Defenders ||||||||||
| 2 | DF | SRB | Nikola Maraš | 19 | 0 | 11+5 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 5 | DF | ESP | Alejandro Catena | 40 | 2 | 36 | 2 | 4 | 0 |
| 19 | DF | POR | Kévin Rodrigues | 17 | 0 | 5+8 | 0 | 3+1 | 0 |
| 20 | DF | ALB | Iván Balliu | 40 | 1 | 35 | 1 | 4+1 | 0 |
| 24 | DF | MNE | Esteban Saveljich | 23 | 0 | 21 | 0 | 0+2 | 0 |
| 32 | DF | ESP | Mario Hernández | 12 | 1 | 5+4 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| 33 | DF | ESP | Fran García | 39 | 1 | 34 | 1 | 4+1 | 0 |
| Midfielders ||||||||||
| 4 | MF | ESP | Mario Suárez | 21 | 1 | 8+6 | 0 | 7 | 1 |
| 6 | MF | ESP | Santi Comesaña | 41 | 1 | 32+3 | 1 | 4+2 | 0 |
| 9 | MF | FRA | Randy Nteka | 39 | 3 | 16+18 | 3 | 2+3 | 0 |
| 10 | MF | CPV | Bebé | 36 | 2 | 6+23 | 1 | 4+3 | 1 |
| 12 | MF | ESP | Unai López | 30 | 0 | 13+14 | 0 | 2+1 | 0 |
| 17 | MF | ESP | Martín Merquelanz | 4 | 0 | 3+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 18 | MF | ESP | Álvaro García | 39 | 8 | 34+2 | 7 | 3 | 1 |
| 21 | MF | SEN | Pathé Ciss | 36 | 3 | 11+20 | 2 | 3+2 | 1 |
| 22 | MF | ESP | José Ángel Pozo | 7 | 1 | 0+5 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| 23 | MF | ESP | Óscar Valentín | 39 | 0 | 26+6 | 0 | 5+2 | 0 |
| Forwards ||||||||||
| 3 | FW | COL | Radamel Falcao | 25 | 6 | 8+14 | 6 | 1+2 | 0 |
| 7 | FW | ESP | Isi Palazón | 40 | 2 | 27+7 | 2 | 4+2 | 0 |
| 8 | FW | ARG | Óscar Trejo | 38 | 4 | 24+8 | 3 | 3+3 | 1 |
| 11 | FW | ESP | Andrés Martín | 11 | 1 | 1+6 | 0 | 3+1 | 1 |
| 14 | FW | MAR | Yacine Qasmi | 2 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 16 | FW | ESP | Sergi Guardiola | 38 | 10 | 20+12 | 8 | 4+2 | 2 |
| 29 | FW | ESP | Sergio Moreno | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0+2 | 1 |
| 11 | FW | SEN | Mamadou Sylla | 14 | 0 | 1+11 | 0 | 0+2 | 0 |
| 34 | FW | ESP | Vere | 2 | 0 | 0+2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Players who have made an appearance this season but have left the club ||||||||||

### Top Goalscorers

| Rank | Player | La Liga | Copa del Rey | Total |
| 1 | Sergi Guardiola | 8 | 2 | 10 |
| 2 | Álvaro García | 7 | 1 | 8 |
| 3 | Radamel Falcao | 6 | 0 | 6 |
| 4 | Óscar Trejo | 3 | 1 | 4 |
| 5 | Randy Nteka | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| 5 | Pathé Ciss | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| Total | Total | 29 | 5 | 34 |