Sporting de Gijon vs Rayo Vallecano preview - Pacheco targets crucial win

Posted Saturday, April 21, 2012 by PA

Rayo Vallecano forward Dani Pacheco believes a victory over Sporting Gijon would be enough to ensure his side will be playing Primera Division football next season.

Promoted Rayo looked relatively safe not so long ago and even in possible contention for a European berth, but five defeats in their last six matches has seen them slip back towards the relegation zone.

However, they are still nine points above the bottom three and, with only four games left after this weekend, Pacheco feels a win in Gijon would end all lingering doubts about a possible return to the Segunda Division.

"I think that with 43 points we would be safe. But we want to take it game by game as we have done all season, and if we get this victory it would give us peace of mind heading into the final four matches," Pacheco said on his club's website.

The 21-year-old knows second-bottom Sporting will be no pushovers, though, recalling the Asturian side's 3-1 victory over Rayo in December.

"In the first meeting they showed us what they can do. They are a difficult opponent who are playing for a lot and they are going to come out and give it everything," he said on his club's website.

"It's also an important game for us where hopefully we can seal our survival. It's going to be a difficult game."

Sporting claimed an impressive 3-2 victory over high-flying Levante in their last home match, but last weekend's 3-1 defeat at Real Madrid left them eight points adrift of safety with only 15 points left to play for.

Relegation is looking increasingly inevitable for Javier Clemente's men, but with home games against three teams in the bottom half in Rayo, Villarreal and Real Betis still to come, defender Alberto Botia is not giving up the fight yet.

He said in AS: "There's only a small chance of staying up but we can still do it. We have room to turn things around and we have to give it everything.

"There's still a chance and we've talked about it between ourselves, there are a lot of points left. The teams who we are facing now are direct rivals. They are fighting to get out of trouble and, aside from Malaga and Espanyol (Sporting's two away games), it's not been plain sailing for them in La Liga."