Rayo Vallecano: Madrid’s Underprivileged Underdogs in the Conference League Final | OneFootball

If you had told Rayo Vallecano fans six months ago that they would be in a European cup final, they wouldn’t have believed you.

Things were bad. They had just suffered four defeats in a row, they were near the bottom in the league table, and they had been knocked out of the Copa del Rey by Deportivo Alavés.

But that’s not the worst part. Off the pitch, the relationship between the fans/players and club’s president Raúl Martín Presa was deteriorating rapidly.

The Failed State of Vallecas

La Liga is one of the world’s top leagues, and while Rayo have a reputation as a “yo-yo” club (moving between first and second divisions), they’ve been a top flight staple for five years now. So you’d think that everything is top notch at the club.

That is not the case.

Their home stadium, Estadio de Vallecas, is a disaster. It is so outdated and worn down that it often doesn’t have running water in the toilets, or hot water in the locker room showers. Let’s not even get started on the pitch, which is a joke.

Stadium conditions reached the breaking point back in February, when a match against Real Oviedo got suspended by La Liga because the pitch was simply unplayable.

The players banded together and issued a statement directed at president Presa, who they accused of running the club to the ground. It’s not just Vallecas, but the club’s training ground is also messed up. Many times in the 2025/26 season players have had to travel an hour away to different training grounds.

For fans, things are brutally bad as well. There is no online ticketing system, so Rayo’s most loyal fans have to queue up outside just to buy match day tickets. Fans of other clubs can purchase tickets in a few seconds online with just a click.

Presa’s Rant

Presa and the fans have had a broken relationship for a long time. Even before the start of the season, a war of words started between the two parties.

One big issue is Presa pushing for a new stadium that would take the club out of Vallecas. He believes the current stadium doesn’t generate enough income for the club, but the fans strongly oppose moving away from the club’s historic home. From a fan’s perspective, moving would strip Rayo of their identity and connection to the neighborhood.

Another issue is that Presa simply doesn’t understand the fans. In fact, they actually have very different ideologies.

For example, Rayo fans have an iconic chant called “The Pirate Life.” Some of the lyrics include: “The pirate’s life is the best life! No work! No studying! Bring on the rum! Rum, rum, rum, the bottle of rum, I’m the captain, of an English ship, and in every port, I have a woman.”

Presa is not a fan of the chant. In fact, he gave an explosive interview before the first game of the season, saying the club would not “tolerate” the chant.

His comments came across as extremely tone deaf to Rayo supporters. Given their home is located in an underprivileged barrio of Madrid, the fanbase is known across the world for being very left-leaning. Presa’s comments about a chant indicate a lack of understanding, and even a fundamental ideological rift, between them.

A European Run

Despite all the issues surrounding the club, Rayo are on a spectacular run in the Conference League, and made the final.

If someone said before the season that there will be one Spanish club in a European final, many would think Real Madrid, Barcelona, or Atlético Madrid. But Rayo Vallecano have done something nobody thought they could do, not even their own fans.

This was not the easiest road. They defeated Turkish side Samsunspor 3-2 on aggregate in the round of sixteen. In the quarterfinals, they faced Greek powerhouse AEK Athens and won 4-3 over two legs. Then they took on Strasbourg in the semifinals, a club backed by BlueCo billions and fielding some really good young players. They won both legs with gritty 1-0 scorelines.

Their task doesn’t get any easier in the final. The opponent is Crystal Palace, who have a very good manager in Oliver Glasner. They may not be the wealthiest Premier League club, but they are backed by American billionaire Woody Johnson, owner of the New York Jets and heir to the Johnson & Johnson pharmaceutical fortune.

There is a massive financial gap between Rayo and Palace. But Rayo enjoy being the underdog. Like stated earlier, this club represents an underprivileged barrio of Madrid. They are used to people looking down on them and underestimating them.

No matter what happens in the final, it’s already impressive enough that Rayo made it this far with such an incompetent president. Now, the players will go out to give their all for the fans and try to win a European trophy.