Article by Cezar Titor – Published Thursday, April 16, 2026, 11:03 p.m. / Updated Thursday, April 16, 2026, 11:07 p.m.
Andrei Rațiu, 27, the right-back of Rayo Vallecano and the national team, had a disastrous half in the second leg of the Conference League quarter-finals with AEK Athens.
First, right at the start of the match at the “Allwyn Arena” in the Greek capital, he wasted a monumental chance. The captain Isi Palazon shot excellently from outside the box, powerfully, with his left foot, and Thomas Strakosha, the Albanian among the AEK defenders, did not manage to retain, he rejected in front, where Andrei Rațiu was. The Romanian didn't calculate his steps correctly and sent it past the goal, from 3 meters, the opposing goalkeeper being on the ground at that moment.
PHOTO. Andrei Rațiu, monumental occasion in AEK Athens – Rayo Vallecano
Seven minutes away from missing the nicknamed 'Sonic' during the 2024 European Championship, the Greeks opened the scoring, through Zini.
Later, Rațiu completed his forgettable performance. In the 34th minute, he committed a penalty after being “confused” by a succession of dribbles by Aboubakary Koita. He fouled the winger from Mauritania, and the “central” Espen Eskas did not hesitate to show the point with lime.
Răzvan Marin made it 2-0, scoring his third goal in ten Conference League games.
In the round, at “Vallecas”, it was 3-0 for the Iberians.
For the first 45 minutes, Rațiu, who also showed off his new look, Afro pigtails in the style of Raphinha, received the lowest rating on specialized websites. Rațiu did not win any duel out of 4, lost 2 in the air, 2 on the ground, managed 3 passes out of 8, of which 2 in the last third and touched the ball 17 times. His 6th minute chance had a cumulative xG of 0.56.
