Rayo Vallecano are on the brink of the Conference League semi-finals after a convincing win over AEK Athens | Goal.com

Published on 09 Apr 2026 | Reading time: 2 minutes

Rayo Vallecano have one foot in the Conference League semi-finals. On Thursday evening, the Spanish side comfortably beat AEK Athens 3-0 at home in the quarter-finals. The second leg is scheduled for next Thursday at 9:00 pm in Athens. The winner of this two-legged tie will face the winner of FSV Mainz 05 v RC Strasbourg in the semi-finals.

Rayo skipped the play-off round after finishing fifth in its group and then edged past Turkish side Samsunspor 3-2 on aggregate in the last 16. AEK, third in its section, also went straight into the knockout phase and eliminated NK Celje 4-2 over two legs. The Greeks had earlier eliminated NK Celje 4–2 on aggregate in the round of 16.

Rayo started brightly, opening the scoring after only two minutes. Álvaro García’s cutback from the byline was turned in by Ilias Akhomach, whose mis-hit effort still found the net.

Moments earlier, Florian Lejeune had denied Luka Jovic with a crucial block, and the French centre-back then appeared poised to double the lead after 20 minutes. He cleverly redirected Akhomach’s effort with his heel, only for the effort to be ruled out for offside.

At the other end, AEK also threatened: Barnabás Varga’s header struck the post after deflecting off goalkeeper Augusto Batalla, Aboubakary Koita slipped when through one-on-one, and soon after Pep Chavarría blocked his follow-up effort.

Just before the break, Rayo doubled their advantage, and Akhomach was again at the heart of it: his shot was saved by Strakosha, and Unai López slammed home the rebound to make it 2-0.

The second half saw little action, yet one goal still materialised. Filipe Relvas handled the ball, and, after a VAR review, a penalty was awarded. Isi Palazón stepped up and converted the spot-kick to make it 3-0. As a result, AEK face a daunting task next week.

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