Inigo Perez hails Rayo Vallecano's best game in charge after Strasbourg win

Inigo Perez said Rayo Vallecano's 1-0 win over Strasbourg in the Conference League semi-final on Thursday night was the best match he has overseen since taking charge. The result sent Rayo into the final in Leipzig and also delivered a fifth Champions League spot for La Liga next year. Strasbourg, meanwhile, managed just their second shot on target, a late penalty.

Why Perez was so impressed

Perez did not frame the night only around progression. He said the performance level, especially across the first 65 minutes, was the strongest he has seen from his team and one of the best he has seen as a coach. That is a fair reading of a game Rayo controlled well enough to keep Strasbourg at arm's length for long spells.

The individual numbers back up that impression. Mike Penders was rated 9.6 and made 7 saves, while Augusto Batalla was rated 7.9 and recorded 3 saves for Rayo. Florian Lejeune also rated 7.5 and completed 60 passes from defence, which fits the picture of a side comfortable enough to keep the ball and manage the match without needing a second goal.

Perez's exact wording made the point clearly: "I think it's the best match played since I've had the good fortune to manage Rayo, due to the level of offensive and defensive play." He added that "the second half and the first 65 minutes today were some of the best I've seen as a coach."

The collective and Trejo's place in it

Perez also made sure the praise did not stop with the team as a whole. "Our strength lies in the collective," he said, before adding that Óscar Trejo's role is "fundamental" and that the journey to the final cannot be understood without him.

That matters because Trejo is in his 10th season at Rayo and will leave the club at the end of the season. Perez said he deserves the run more than anyone, and Trejo himself admitted reaching a final with the club was beyond anything he had imagined. Rayo's reward is a final against Crystal Palace in Leipzig on 27 May, but the emotional edge of the night came from how Perez talked about the people inside the squad, not just the result on the board.

Perez also drew a line back to Marcelo Bielsa, saying Bielsa changed the way he played and felt about the game and improved him as a person. That is not just a polite nod to a coaching influence. It is the clearest explanation for why Perez speaks about Rayo in terms of collective work, discipline and shared responsibility rather than individual star turns.

Rayo's wider numbers support the mood too. They have taken 4 wins and 1 draw from their last 5 matches, and they are 5th in the Conference League table with 13 points from 6 matches. That is a solid European run, and on Thursday night it turned into a place in the final.