Bathrooms without doors, dirty seats, damaged grass... The state of Estadio de Vallecas, despite the works, is still very bad. Four days before the final decision, the Conference League in Vallecas is in serious danger and Rayo is starting to prepare Plan B.

An unpleasant return

The fans of Rayo Vallecano were expecting something else when they returned to their home ground after the summer break. The matches against Neman Grodno (4:0) and Barcelona (1:1) left some sad images: a deteriorated pitch, dirty seats, rubbish in the stands, cables hanging from the new roof, VAR system breaking down, women's toilets without doors and those for the disabled, not cleaned... The remedial works carried out by the Community of Madrid disappointed the Rayistas.

President Martín Presa and the club are very angry about how they left the stadium said journalist José David Palacio on El Larguero. There is no less anger among the fans, who blame the club and the Community for allowing the deterioration of Estadio de Vallecas and not respecting the fans. But it seems that the worst is yet to come.

Imágenes del estadio de Vallecas remodelándose según las proyecciones más recientes.

— Union Rayo Live (@UnionRayoLive) May 18, 2025

Vallecas or Metropolitano?

The images spark fear that UEFA might not homologate the pitch for the Conference League. Although Rayo have already played the play-off match at Vallecas, the European body could veto its use for the league phase of the tournament due to several breaches of the competition's regulations.

The most serious problem is in the away supporters' section, which was closed by La Liga in the Rayo-Barca game for security reasons. And UEFA is even more rigorous because of the possible displacement of ultras. Each stadium must offer the opposing team 5% of seats – which means 700 in the case of Vallecas – with a separate entrance and a fence separating the fans to prevent clashes.

Friday is the deadline to inform UEFA in which stadium the club will play the Conference group stage, and given the numerous problems with their ground, Rayo have started to work seriously on a plan B. In recent weeks there was talk of the Coliseum, Butarque or even the Bernabéu, but it seems that the Franjirrojos have opted for Atletico’s Estadio Metropolitano.

© Stephan Hoogerwaard | Remedial works included the replacement of both roofs, repair of cracks and interior refurbishment.