Iñigo Pérez leaves Rayo Vallecano after a historic season and a European final
Iñigo Pérez is leaving the Rayo Vallecano bench after one of the most important seasons in the recent history of the Madrid club. The Spanish coach announced on 29 May 2026 that he would not continue working in Vallecas, just two days after Rayo lost the UEFA Conference League final to Crystal Palace. According to reports in the Spanish media, Pérez communicated the decision at a farewell press conference, in the company of the players, coaching staff and club president Raúl Martín Presa. That brought to an end a chapter that began as a technical continuation of Andoni Iraola's work and ended with qualification for the first European final in the club's history.
Rayo Vallecano lost 1:0 to Crystal Palace in Leipzig on 27 May, and according to UEFA's official data, the only goal was scored by Jean-Philippe Mateta in the 51st minute. Although the defeat stopped the dream of a first European trophy, reaching the Conference League final itself was a sporting step forward for the club from the working-class Madrid neighbourhood of Vallecas, described in Spain as historic. In its preview of the final, UEFA recalled that before this season Rayo had had only one previous European campaign, in the 2000/01 UEFA Cup, when it reached the quarter-finals. The current season therefore marked a return to the continental stage after almost a quarter of a century, but also the end of a coaching cycle that, in a short period, changed expectations around the club.
Departure after an offer to stay
According to Cadena SER, Pérez confirmed that he would not renew his contract with Rayo even though he had an offer to continue the collaboration. The Spanish coach did not present his decision as a break with the club, but as the end of a period in which, as reported by the Spanish media, he felt that the team had reached a shared peak. In his farewell appearance, he thanked the players, the people at the club and the fans, and he particularly stressed that it had been important to him to leave behind good memories, not just results. His departure therefore comes at a moment when Rayo is more visible in sporting terms than ever before, but also at a moment when the club must quickly turn to planning the new season.
El País reported that Pérez, in his farewell, spoke about the need to see whether he could "fly freely", a formulation that was interpreted in the Spanish media as an indication of a personal and professional step forward. An official destination at the time the departure was announced had not been confirmed, although Villarreal is mentioned in Spanish reports as a possible next step. Cadena SER also linked his name with Villarreal in the context of changes on that club's bench, but without official club confirmation a new appointment cannot be treated as a done deal. For Rayo, however, the confirmation of his departure alone is enough to open one of the most sensitive questions of the summer: who can succeed the coach who raised the competitive and emotional bar.
From assistant to coach who changed the season
Pérez came to Rayo as part of the professional environment connected with Andoni Iraola, and he took charge of the first team in February 2024 after the departure of Francisco Rodríguez. According to data published by Spanish media and club sources, at the moment he took over he did not have extensive experience as a head coach, but in Vallecas he quickly earned the trust of the dressing room. The first important task was to stabilise the team and preserve its top-flight status, which he managed in the 2023/24 season. In the following season, his Rayo took an additional step and secured Europe, and in May 2025 LaLiga announced that the Madrid club had secured participation in the Conference League.
That qualification was important because Rayo finished the 2024/25 season among the clubs that earned European qualifiers, ending a long break without continental football. LaLiga then stated that Rayo Vallecano and Celta Vigo had returned to European competitions, with Rayo securing a place in the Conference League. For a club whose budget and infrastructure do not belong to the top tier of Spanish football, that was not only a competitive success but proof that a well-structured team can compensate for a financial gap. In that process, Pérez built a recognisable style, based on intensity, pressing and brave play against opponents with greater individual capacity.
Leipzig as the peak, but not a happy ending
The Conference League final in Leipzig was the peak of Rayo's European season. UEFA officially announced that Crystal Palace won 1:0 and lifted the trophy, and the match was decided at the start of the second half, when Mateta scored for the English team. Rayo reached the final through a campaign that carried almost symbolic weight for the club: it competed for the first time in the modern UEFA Conference League format and finished among the two best teams in the competition. The Spanish media also highlighted the great support of the fans, with thousands of people travelling to Germany or watching the match on big screens in Vallecas.
Before the final, Cadena SER reported that Rayo, with the support of the regional authorities, had organised a screening of the match on big screens at the Vallecas stadium, with a capacity of 14,700 seats. That detail shows how much the final grew beyond the usual sporting framework and became an event for the entire neighbourhood. For a club that strongly identifies with the local community, the European final was not only a question of a trophy but also a confirmation of identity. It is precisely this relationship between the team and its surroundings that has often been emphasised in texts about Rayo, and ahead of the final The Guardian described the club as strongly tied to working-class Vallecas and to a fan culture that is an important part of its public profile.
A team that exceeded expectations
Pérez's Rayo was not a project built on major transfers, but on a clear collective pattern of play and the strong role of players who fitted into a demanding rhythm. In an interview with the coach ahead of the final, UEFA noted that Rayo was looking for the ending of a "story with a happy ending", which shows how the European campaign had already, before the final, acquired a narrative beyond the usual sporting routine. The coach repeatedly emphasised work, discipline and belonging as elements that enabled Rayo to compete with richer clubs. That logic was also visible in the final stage of the season, when the team maintained its competitive level despite parallel obligations in the domestic league and Europe.
According to Rayo Vallecano's official website, the club entered the end of May with a series of big matches: league fixtures against Valencia, Villarreal and Alavés, and the Conference League final against Crystal Palace. In club statements, president Raúl Martín Presa described the final as the most important match in the club's history, which further underlines the level of expectation created around Pérez's team. Although the trophy did not arrive in Vallecas, the fact that Rayo found itself in such a match at all will remain one of the key arguments in assessing his tenure. In sporting terms, Pérez leaves behind a team that proved it can play above estimates based only on financial strength.
What the departure means for Rayo Vallecano
Rayo now enters a transitional period in which it must resolve the question of the coach, keep the core of the team and decide whether it wants to continue in the same stylistic direction. The departure of a coach after the most successful European season can be destabilising, especially for clubs in which the identity of the game is strongly tied to the personality of the specialist on the bench. Rayo will have to assess whether it needs continuity through a similar coaching profile or a new model that would reduce the risk of a decline after a historic achievement. Since the next coach inherits a team with great expectations, the pressure will not be only results-based but also emotional.
According to the available information, Rayo will not enter the new season with the same European momentum if it does not secure additional continental status through domestic competition or other circumstances. In its piece on Pérez's departure, Cadena SER stressed that the club is facing a new cycle without the coach who took it to the final, in circumstances in which the European stage is no longer guaranteed. This is important context because clubs of Rayo's profile find it difficult to maintain the same level of income, visibility and motivation in the long term if continuity of European appearances is absent. The management must therefore react quickly, but also cautiously, so that the historic season becomes a foundation and not an exception that will be difficult to repeat.
A coach whose value has risen sharply
For Pérez, leaving Rayo Vallecano comes at a moment when his reputation is at its strongest. In February 2024 he was a coach with limited experience at the highest level, and in May 2026 he leaves as a specialist who took the club to a European final. Spanish media therefore view his future in the context of clubs with greater ambitions and more stable resources. Although Villarreal is mentioned most often, there was no official confirmation at the time of his farewell, so the only certainty is that Pérez is leaving Vallecas as a coach whose market value has risen considerably.
His work at Rayo is also important because it shows how quickly a young coach can build credibility if he takes over a team with a clear identity and is given room to develop. In modern football, in which clubs often change coaches after short negative runs, Pérez's tenure offers a different example: gradual stabilisation, then a step forward in the domestic league and finally a European peak. That does not mean his next job is without risk, because bigger clubs usually bring different pressure, greater media exposure and higher expectations. But leaving Rayo Vallecano after the Conference League final gives him the status of one of the most interesting Spanish coaching names on the market.
A legacy that remains in Vallecas
Pérez's departure does not change the fact that Rayo Vallecano, under his leadership, achieved a season that will long remain a reference point for the club. According to UEFA's data, the final in Leipzig concluded a competition in which Crystal Palace became Conference League winners, but Rayo was one of the stories of the season. According to LaLiga, even the return to Europe after a long period was a special moment for Vallecas, and the final turned that return into a historic achievement. For that reason, Pérez's tenure cannot be reduced only to the lost final, but to the entire process in which the club first secured stability, then European qualification, and then a fight for a trophy.
In farewell reports, Spanish media particularly emphasised the emotional tone of the press conference and the support of the dressing room. That is an important detail because it shows that the departure is not happening after a sporting collapse, but after a peak that is difficult to repeat without changes. Rayo Vallecano must now find a way to retain what became recognisable under Pérez: intensity, connection with the fans and the belief that, even with limited resources, it is possible to play against bigger teams. Pérez, on the other hand, leaves with the strongest possible recommendation for the continuation of his career: a result that changed the way Rayo is viewed and the way his own coaching potential is perceived.
Sources:
- UEFA – official data on the 2025/26 UEFA Conference League final between Crystal Palace and Rayo Vallecano (link)
- UEFA – overview of the 2025/26 UEFA Conference League season results and confirmation of the competition winner (link)
- UEFA – interview with Iñigo Pérez ahead of the final against Crystal Palace (link)
- LaLiga – announcement on Rayo Vallecano's return to European competitions after the 2024/25 season (link)
- Rayo Vallecano – official club website with information on the end of the season and the Conference League final (link)
- Cadena SER – report on Iñigo Pérez's departure from Rayo Vallecano and the context of his decision (link)
- El País – report from Iñigo Pérez's farewell and overview of his tenure at Rayo (link)
- Cadena SER – information on big screens in Vallecas for watching the Conference League final (link)
- The Guardian – reportorial context on Rayo Vallecano, Vallecas and the meaning of the European final for the club (link)