Match Review: Barcelona 1-0 Rayo Vallecano | La Liga | OneFootball

FC Barcelona huffed and puffed but managed to get over the line against Rayo Vallecano in an important La Liga game. The Catalan club knew just how significant this match was in putting pressure on Real Madrid ahead of the Madrid derby later that night.

One of the biggest talking points ahead of the game was Hansi Flick’s decision to not rest or rotate his starting XI from the game against Newcastle United, with Ronald Araujo being the only noteable change at right-back, replacing Eric Garcia.

The first half actually began well from a Barcelona perspective. Pedri looked sharp and ran the show in midfield, and the team created enough to take the lead on merit. It eventually came through an excellently delivered corner from Joao Cancelo.

Ronald Araujo nodded the ball home to give Barcelona the lead at around the half-hour mark. Barcelona then had a penalty shout on Lamine Yamal that was, somewhat controversially, not given, but the fatigue was visible even as the first half wore on.

Rayo Vallecano slowly started coming into the game and had chances to equalise before the break. In fact, their best opportunity of the half came inside 50 seconds, when Joan Garcia was forced to make a brilliant point-blank save.

Speaking of the Spanish goalkeeper, he also had to overcome an injury scare in the first half to the same calf in which he had felt discomfort against Newcastle United. It was a good thing he did, because he was imperious in the second 45 minutes.

Throughout the second half, Barcelona looked completely devoid of energy and were hanging on by the thinnest of threads. Rayo created enough not just to level, but also to go ahead, yet they could not find the goal because of a combination of poor finishing and excellent goalkeeping.

Ultimately, even Flick’s substitutes did not make much of a difference, and Barcelona will be grateful that they came out of this game with all three points. Not all wins are pretty, and this certainly was not one of them.

In the end, all that matters is that the three points are in the bag. It is now time for the international break before the squad reassemble for the run-in.