Photo by Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno/Getty Images

Memphis was the hero once more. Atlético Madrid sealed a nail-biting win over Rayo Vallecano with a late goal from Memphis Depay securing a 2-1 victory to help the team?s cause in LALIGA.

FT: #AtletiRayo 2-1@atletienglish get the win thanks to a late goal from Memphis! #LALIGAEASPORTS | #ResultsByVisitSaudi pic.twitter.com/11sOpk290Z? LALIGA English (@LaLigaEN) January 31, 2024

Reinildo Mandava scored his first goal for the club to open the scoring late in the first half with a back-post header, but the lead was short-lived as Álvaro García scored an impressive equaliser for Rayo. It wasn?t until the death, right on 90 minutes, when Atlético found a way through again as Memphis broke free to get onto the end of Antoine Griezmann?s cross into the box before poking home for his third goal in as many games. Here are four of the key talking points from the game.
1. An incomplete rotation
Diego Simeone made seven changes to the team that beat Valencia on Sunday night, with only Memphis, Reinildo, Jan Oblak and Pablo Barrios keeping their places in the line-up. In came several players who have spent most of the season on the substitutes? bench or in the physio?s room.
That was always likely to be a challenge, but perhaps even Simeone underestimated how much this XI might struggle against Rayo. The 7-0 victory earlier in the season at Vallecas was in complete contrast to the struggle that this game prov...