Real Madrid bounced back from their shock defeat to Real Betis in the last round of the Spanish league by seeing off Rayo Vallecano.
Los Blancos ran out 4-1 winners at the Santiago Bernabeu on Saturday evening in the fifth round of La Liga.
AI - GeminiTranslated by 
From the "Vipers" to the "Vikings": "Amrabat's hand" rescues Real Madrid from the Betis pit
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Getty Images SportThe return of the magician
Real Madrid boss Jose Mourinho named a side much like the one that faced Inter Milan in the Champions League, with two key changes.
Yan Diomande started on the right wing ahead of Arda Guler, while Bernardo Silva came into midfield in place of Alexander-Arnold.
Bernardo's return handed Real Madrid real fluidity. He became the magic solution for his teammates, carrying the ball out from the first and second thirds all the way up to goal.
The Portuguese star did not grab a goal or a decisive assist, that much is true. But every goal Real Madrid scored before he came off bore his fingerprint from the very start.
Getty Images SportMourinho's sin
Once the second half began, Mourinho sensed the match was slipping away and threw on French midfielder Eduardo Camavinga for Valverde. Real Madrid promptly lost the midfield altogether.
Rayo Vallecano and their coach Iñigo Pérez had the courage to push out from their own ground. Real Madrid helped them, retreating too deep and coughing up possession again and again, unable to escape the second third of the pitch.
Exploiting the gaping hole in the heart of the Real Madrid defence, the visitors began peppering the Whites' goal. Only the brilliance of Belgian goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois kept them to a single scare.
Mourinho tried to fix it. He plugged the centre by dropping Tchouaméni into defence for Bernardo Silva, knowing full well the switch cost him the last player capable of controlling the ball and keeping it at his team-mates' feet.
AFPThe solution lies with Güler
The next change came immediately for that reason: on came Arda Guler in place of Diomande, and the course of play shifted completely.
Real had been penned back towards Courtois' goal. The Turk restored the balance, returning the ball to Real Madrid's feet and controlling the tempo in the best possible manner.
Guler sprinkled his magic. He came close to winning a penalty before setting up the fourth goal for French star Kylian Mbappe.
Make no mistake, Guler was the man who steered Real Madrid to safety, after they had come close to falling into the same trap that caught them against Real Betis.
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