La Liga, Week 12: Real Madrid nearly collapse, but hang on against Rayo Vallecano

It appeared the rout was on when Bale set up Ronaldo for his second -- an easy tap-in -- in the 48th minute, but the fun was just getting started. In the 53rd minute, Pepe took down Viera in the box, giving Rayo an avenue back into the game, and Viera converted from the spot. Inexplicably, just two minutes later, Marcelo hacked down Alberto Bueno from behind in the box. He was lucky not to get booked, but the referee did point to the spot and Viera converted yet again.

Bueno looked to have the equalizer in the 65th minute, but was brilliantly denied by Diego Lopez. His laser of a shot from the edge of the box was just barely touched by Lopez, who was able to tip the ball onto the post. Rayo had another big flurry in the 73rd minute, when Joaquin Larrivey had a shot blocked and Adrian Embarba missed the follow-up just wide.

Week 12 in Spain begins just as Week 11 ends...aren’t mid-week games fun? There’s two attention grabbing matches on the schedule this week as we get a local derby on Friday and a match-up between the second place team and one of the European place contenders.

Here’s a look at the full schedule for week 11: