Rayo Vallecano Boss Paco Jemez: 'I Bet My Balls' on Good Performance vs. Madrid

Match of the Day presenter Gary Lineker's high-stakes gamble has been promptly and comprehensively outdone.

While it would, of course, be a mistake to take the words of a football coach literally, Rayo Vallecano boss Paco Jemez has placed a tonne of faith in his struggling side ahead of a trip to Real Madrid on Sunday.

Rayo sit 18th in La Liga with just four wins from 15 games, some 16 points behind Los Blancos, who lost 1-0 to Villarreal on the weekend.

But speaking on the Al Primer Toque radio show (via AS), Jemez gambled something rather precious on a good performance.

"I bet my balls that my players will play well at the Bernabeu next Sunday," he said.

Gonzalo Arroyo Moreno/Getty Images

The stakes have never been higher.

But he didn't stop there: "On the day they were handing out brains, I ended up with a small one, but when they handed out balls, I got the biggest."

Well, then. Rafa Benitez has come a long way from Jose Mourinho mind games.

[AS]