Barcelona rescued a point against Rayo Vallecano in La Liga with a 1-1 draw on Saturday afternoon, but will expect to lose ground on Girona and Real Madrid by the end of the weekend.
Unai Lopez scored a long-range drive in the first half to give Rayo what was probably a deserved lead at the time, before Florian Lejeune inadvertently turned the ball into his own net in the closing stages to ensure the points would be shared at Vallecas.
Having been beaten in three of their previous four encounters with Vallecano, Barca are still searching for their first La Liga win over their Madrid-based bogey team in over four years.
How the game unfolded
Although Barca controlled the early ball, Rayo started the brighter and had the best chances in the opening exchanges. Isi Palazon’s shot caused problems when it dipped right in front of Inaki Pena, leading the Barca stopper to spill the ball – Jorge de Frutos was agonisingly close to the rebound. Rayo captain Oscar Valentin also tested Pena with a curler after Frenkie de Jong was caught out.
Barca didn’t ask a question of Stole Dimitrievski at the other end until 15 minutes had elapsed – even then, Pedri’s attempt was a comfortable save. Moments earlier, Rayo had what would have been soft penalty claims firmly waved away after a challenge from Ferran Torres.
Rayo’s promising start had actually faded by the time Lopez put the home side ahead shortly before half-time – even so, Barca hadn’t made the most of that aside from a few flashes from Lamine Yamal. The goal was something to behold, with Lopez initially playing a wide free-kick into the box, but as it fell back to him after a blocked shot, he unleashed a low, speculative effort that caught Pena by surprise.
Xavi was annoyed in the technical area, with claims that offside players had been interfering with play, but the goal appeared fair in real time and was allowed to stand after a VAR review.
It could have got worse before the interval too, with Alejandro Balde hooking away De Frutos’ teasing ball into the box in stoppage time as two Rayo players closed in.
Barca went close right after the second half began when Joao Cancelo’s shot was only just too high, while Pedri should have done better with a headed chance from Robert Lewandowski’s cross. Xavi also wasted little time in changing things up, replacing the more defensive-minded Oriol Romeu with Ilkay Gundogan and also turning to Joao Felix in bid to give his team more creativity.
But rather than Barca trying to pick their way through the middle, more and more crosses were going into the box. Other than Pedri, Torres and Inigo Martinez both also failed to convert headers.
Raphinha nearly made an instant impact off the bench when he cut in from the right and struck the foot of the post from distance. Dimitrievski reacted just in time to stop the rebound from trickling over the line and the ball was cleared in Rayo’s first real moment of panic more than 75 minutes in.
Although Barca had started to carve more and more half chances, the equaliser was fortuitous the way it went in. It was still the result of two smart balls to get to that point, with Martinez setting Balde free down the left and the full-back precisely guiding the ball towards Lewandowski in the box. Lejeune got there first but, in trying to clear the danger, scored beyond his own goalkeeper.
Barcelona player ratings (4-3-3)
GK: Inaki Pena - 5/10 - Perhaps could have done better with the Rayo goal.
RB: Joao Cancelo - 6/10 - Put up some good numbers on paper in terms of passes and duels, but it didn't translate to making a genuine impact on the grass.
CB: Andreas Christensen - 6/10 - Kept his composure in defensive situations and passed with care.
CB: Inigo Martinez - 7/10 - Made some importanrt defensive interventions and his distribution was directly responsible for the equaliser.
LB: Alejandro Balde - 7/10 - Clear intention to get forward to try and attack and got a crucial assist. Also pulled off an important defensive clearance that stopped Rayo going 2-0 up in the first half.
CM: Oriol Romeu - 6/10 - Safe with the ball and good at offering defensive protection, although it gave Barca precious little going the other way.
CM: Frenkie de Jong - 5/10 - Not incisive enough and was caught on the ball to give up a chance in the first half. The cobwebs showed just over two months after his last appearance.
CM: Pedri - 5/10 - Celebrating his 21st birthday. Needed to hit the target with a good headed chance, but it's clear he still isn't back to his best after injury troubles.
RW: Lamine Yamal - 6/10 - Arguably Barca's brightest spark in a poor first half from the team, but had faded by the time he was withdrawn.
ST: Robert Lewandowski - 5/10 - Service was sorely lacking for the most part. However, the equaliser would have been his goal had Lejeune not touched it first.
LW: Ferran Torres - 5/10 - Not enough impact. Only touched the ball 25 times.
Substitutes
SUB: Joao Felix (55' for Torres) - 5/10
SUB: Ilkay Gundogan (55' for Romeu) - 6/10
SUB: Fermin Lopez (75' for Pedri) - 5/10
SUB: Raphinha (75' for Yamal) - 7/10
Subs not used: Ander Astralaga (GK), Aron Yaakobishvili (GK), Ronald Araujo, Marcos Alonso, Jules Kounde, Unai Hernandez, Aleix Garrido
Manager
Xavi - 7/10 - It wasn't working in the first half and the changes, both tactical and personnel, made his team play better to at least claim a point.
Player of the match - Alejandro Balde (Barcelona)
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This article was originally published on 90min as Rayo Vallecano 1-1 Barcelona: Player ratings as late own goal spares Barca blushes.
