Despite the fact that their Madrid neighbours, with two straight road wins entering the game, are one of the league's in-form away teams, two early strikes from Antoine Griezmann, who was outstanding all evening, effectively killed the game as a contest before it began.
Rayo did rally, and Roberto Trashorras made it a nervy 10 minutes before halftime for Los Colchoneros, but a strong start to the second period brought an own goal from Manucho and sealed the win for Diego Simeone's men.
There were chances to add to the lead, and Griezmann was unlucky to grab a third, but attention now turns to the unenviable task of stopping Barca in their tracks and overturning a 1-0 deficit in the Copa del Rey quarterfinal 16 on Wednesday night.
GK Miguel Angel Moya, 7 -- Blameless for the goal, the man from Mallorca made a top-drawer save at 3-1 to prevent a nervous last 10 minutes and once again showed that, despite Jan Oblak's improvement, he is the undisputed No. 1.
DF Juanfran, 7 - Mr. Reliable will have a much trickier evening against his bete noir Neymar on Wednesday. He pushed on well and, as usual, linked up with Arda Turan to good effect.
DF Guilherme Siqueira, 7 -- The Brazilian put his lapse in concentration against Barcelona behind him and put in a positive display. Like Juanfran, he will have a busier night in midweek, but he attacked with gusto and put in a couple of delicious crosses that deserved to be finished.
DF Jose Maria Gimenez, 7 -- Playing alongside Miranda for the first time, the pairing were largely untested against limited opposition. Busier times await.
DF Miranda, 7 -- As previously stated with Gimenez, it is hard to gauge if the central defensive partnership will be a success from this game. The acid test comes Wednesday.
MF Tiago, 7 -- Back from a knock, he enjoyed the liberty of playing with both Mario Suarez, and Gabi afforded him by pushing on a bit higher up than usual. The Portuguese showed neat touches as he combined to good effect with Arda and Griezmann.
MF Gabi, 6 -- A couple sloppy passes aside, this was more like it from the skipper. His dead ball delivery was back to somewhere near where it should be, and playing alongside Tiago and Mario gave him more comfort and protection than he has had recently.
MF Arda Turan, 7 -- The Turkey international was lively, showed some very neat touches at times and was unlucky not to get on the scoresheet. He was given the last 10 minutes off as Raul Garcia got a run.
MF Antoine Griezmann, 9 -- The match winner was the best player on the park, as he took his goals superbly and linked up terrifically with Mandzukic, something that notably dipped once Fernando Torres replaced the Croatian. He was unlucky not to score a third a minute from the end, when he turned on the afterburners only to see his effort rebound off the post. Now he needs to put in these kind of displays against the big boys.
FW Mario Mandzukic, 8 - He looks much more comfortable playing with Griezmann just off him, as opposed to alongside Torres. He helped set up the Frenchman's second and contributed in defence when his side were under the cosh. He is, without doubt, Atletico's No. 1 striker, and this display -- combined with Torres's less than inspiring cameo -- only served to highlight that.
Substitutes
FW Fernando Torres 5 -- Brought on for Mandzukic with just over 20 minutes to go, El Nino looks a different player to the one who caused shockwaves at the Bernabeu just two weeks ago. His sole meaningful contribution was to make the wrong decision as he bore down on goal in a late counter.
MF Raul Garcia, NR -- Garcia replaced Arda, but with both teams content to run down the clock, he was able to do little of note. So often a go-to man for Simeone in the big games, he will be hoping for a start against Barcelona.
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