Rayo Vallecano celebrated victory on Thursday night in their first ever European semi-final, winning 1-0 in Vallecas in the first leg of the Conference League final four. There was also an unusual scene during the celebrations with Ilias Akhomach as the protagonist.
Heading to France next week with a narrow lead, Vallecas was in fine voice as they celebrated not only a win, but a final European night at Vallecas for the season. They will hope to have two more, but both will be away from home.
Ilias Akhomach brings out Palestine flag from Rayo crowd
As is customary, Rayo celebrated their win in front of the Bukaneros ultra group. During the celebrations, Villarreal loanee Ilias Akhomach went into the crowd to take a Palestine flag, and then laid it in front of the players on the ground. As the celebrations became more vigorous, he draped himself in the flag. After collecting it from the crowd, chants of Palestina Libre [Free Palestine] rang around Vallecas.
Ilias Akhomach goes into the Rayo crowd to collect a Palestine flag and celebrate with it. pic.twitter.com/5OhM0hbouH
— Ruairidh Barlow (@RuriBarlow) April 30, 2026
Special mention to Moroccan international Ilias Akhomach who brought the flag to the field. The entire stadium ended up chanting “Free Palestine.” pic.twitter.com/aAsCp91pQN
— Leyla Hamed (@leylahamed) May 1, 2026
Ilias has previously expressed support for Palestine
This is not the first time that Ilias has expressed support for Palestine. During a 2023 Europa League match for Villarreal against Israeli side Maccabi Haifa, UEFA granted a minute of silence to honour the October 7th victims of an attack by Hamas. As the minute of silence failed to acknowledge the victims of the conflict between Israel and Hamas, Akhomach did not partake. He and Aissa Mandi both stepped back from the rest of the players in protest.
Akhomach joined Rayo from Villarreal on loan until the end of the season, with no option to buy. After struggling with injuries in recent years, the Morocco international has found his flow again in Vallecas. So far the 22-year-old has played 15 times for Rayo, scoring once and assisting once, but his impact on the pitch has been notable.
