Participant scores as Blaugrana fall to shock defeat
Barcelona fell to simply their third defeat in La Liga this season on Wednesday, slumping to a shock 2-1 loss away at Rayo Vallecano.
Having seen Actual Madrid thumped 4-2 by Girona 24 hours earlier, Barcelona had the possibility to increase their imposing lead atop the standings to 14 factors however, regardless of dominating on the stats sheet, had been second greatest in opposition to a Rayo facet who are actually liable for just below 20% of the targets Barcelona have conceded within the league this season.
Xavi went for a powerful Barcelona lineup, with the omission of the suspended Sergio Busquets his solely change from the latest 1-0 victory over Atletico Madrid, however they had been comprehensively outplayed for giant elements of the sport.
Sergio Camello pressured a sensible save from Marc-Andre ter Stegen halfway via the primary half however he might do nothing to cease Alvaro Garcia from opening the scoring two minutes later. Camello turned creator this time, enjoying in his winger for a fizzing strike into the again of the web.
Barcelona tried to reply shortly as Roberto Lewandowski’s effort was well denied by Stole Dimitrievski, however Rayo quickly regained their composure and took management of the sport as soon as once more, though they needed to maintain their breath when the Pole discovered the again of the web late within the first 45 because the offside flag and subsequent VAR test got here to their rescue.
A high-tempo begin to the second half introduced possibilities for either side nevertheless it was Rayo who made theirs rely. Having watched Alvaro web earlier, namesake Fran Garcia doubled the hosts’ benefit eight minutes after the restart when he beat Ronald Araujo and drilled past Ter Stegen.
Rayo’s relentless press didn’t decelerate and continued to trigger loads of issues for Barcelona, whose normal fluidity within the ultimate third was denied by a stable defensive block as nicely.
Barcelona did ultimately beat the Rayo wall with seven minutes to go as Lewandowski flashed his poacher’s intuition to volley a deflection past Dimitrievski.
That aim appeared to revive Barcelona’s confidence and each Lewandowski and Raphinha got here near discovering late equalisers, however the injury had already been achieved as Rayo battled to a hard-earned three factors.
Learn the newest Barcelona information right here
GK: Stole Dimitrievski (7); RB: Ivan Balliu (7); CB: Florian Lejeune (7); CB: Alejandro Catena (7); LB: Fran Garcia (8); DM: Oscar Valentin (6); DM: Unai Lopez (6); RM: Isi Palazon (7); AM: Oscar Trejo (7); LM: Alvaro Garcia (8); ST: Sergio Camello (8)
Substitutes: Pathe Ciss (6), Salvi Sanchez (6), Pep Chavarria (6), Raul de Tomas (N/A), Abdul Mumin (N/A)
GK: Marc-Andre ter Stegen (5); RB: Jules Kounde (6); CB: Ronald Araujo (5); CB: Marcos Alonso (6); LB: Alejandro Balde (5); DM: Frenkie de Jong (6); CM: Pedri (5); CM: Gavi (5); RW: Raphinha (6); ST: Robert Lewandowski (8); LW: Ferran Torres (6)
Substitutes: Ansu Fati (6), Jordi Alba (6), Franck Kessie (5), Pablo Torre (6), Eric Garcia (5)
