La Liga
Barcelona Defeat Rayo To Go Seven Points Clear
Barcelona moved seven points clear at the top of La Liga after a comfortable victory against Rayo Vallecano at the Camp Nou.
Ernesto Valverde’s side had to fight back after going behind thanks to a brilliant curling strike from Raul de Tomas.
A header from Gerard Pique hauled Barca level and penalty at the start of the second half from Lionel Messi helped them turn the game around.
Luis Suarez finished a free-flowing move late on to secure all three points, as Barcelona kept their lead at the top of the table.
Rayo boss Michel will be encouraged with his sides performance. Despite this, he knows the pressure is starting to mount, as his side suffered a sixth straight La Liga defeat.
It is very tight at the bottom of the table and Rayo still have time to stay in La Liga but next weekend’s crucial clash against fellow strugglers Villarreal is now a must win.
De Tomas Gives Rayo Shock Lead
As expected, Barcelona were playing on the front foot early on, with Rayo Vallecano happy to sit back and try and catch Barca on the counter-attack.
However, despite all of their possession they were struggling to create any clear cut chances and find a way through the Rayo defensive wall.
Barcelona should have opened the scoring after 23 minutes. A great move involving Arturo Vidal and Lionel Messi eventually saw the ball find it’s way to Philippe Coutinho just inside the box.
The Brazilian’s shot was poor and straight at Stole Dimitrievski in the Rayo goal.
A minute later, against the run of play Rayo took a shock lead to silence the Camp Nou.
Raul de Tomas picked up the ball inside the Barcelona half. He drove forward and then brilliantly curled a shot past Marc-Andre ter Stegen in the Barcelona goal from just outside the penalty box.
Barcelona continued to dominate possession but were struggling to open up the Rayo defence.
Seven minutes before half time, Barcelona were level. A free-kick swung in by Lionel Messi found Gerard Pique who headed the ball past Dimitrevski.
Rayo boss Michel will have been frustrated given that Pique was completely unmarked inside the penalty box.
Messi Puts Barca Ahead
Barcelona took the lead five minutes after the interval. Right-back Nelson Semedo was brought down by Rayo defender Jordi Amat inside the penalty area.
Up stepped Lionel Messi who sent Dimitrievski the wrong way to put Barca in front.
Barcelona were beginning to up the pressure on Rayo’s defence. Luis Suarez nodded the ball down to Lionel Messi inside the box. However, the Argentine’s shot was straight at Dimitrevski.
On 70 minutes, the league leaders almost sealed all three points. A free kick from 20-yards-out from Lionel Messi was headed off the line by Rayo defender Alex Moreno.
With nine minutes to go, Barca extended their lead. A free flowing move saw Ousmane Dembele play the ball inside the box. It found Luis Suarez who played a neat one two with substitute Ivan Rakitic and then coolly slotted the ball into the net.
Barcelona comfortably saw the game out ahead of their crucial Champions League clash against Lyon on Wednesday.
Job Done For Barca
Ernesto Valverde’s side weren’t at their brilliant best but he will be happy that they picked up another three points and kept their gap at the top of La Liga.
Perhaps the big surprise was how strong a line-up Valverde put out ahead of their Champions League match against Lyon.
In the build up to this game, many felt the likes of Lionel Messi, Luis Suarez, Gerard Pique and Jordi Alba would have been rested.
However, Valverde resisted that temptation, partly due to Atletico having cut the gap at the top to four points ahead of Barca’s meeting with Rayo.
He will be happy that his side picked up no injuries ahead of a crucial week.
The tie against Lyon is firmly in the balance after a goalless draw in France and the French side are more than capable of causing Barca problems.
Also, after what happened to Real Madrid and PSG, Valverde will be demanding that his side don’t get complacent.
This was the perfect build-up in some respects. They kept their unbeaten run going and didn’t pick up any injuries.
But with all due respect to Rayo, Valverde will know that the match against Lyon on Wednesday will be a far more difficult test and could make or break their season.
Michel Safe For Now
It was always going to be tough for Rayo Vallecano to get anything from this game.
Incredibly, in the build up to their encounter at the Camp Nou, Rayo’s owners said that they had to beat Barcelona. If they didn’t their manager Michel would be sacked.
Thankfully Rayo’s owners backed down from that statement and said if they didn’t play well, Michel would be sacked.
From this performance, it looks like Michel is safe in his job for now. Rayo showed heart, desire and commitment.
They defended well for the most part and took the lead from a superb strike from star striker Raul de Tomas.
In the end, the obvious gulf in quality was the difference but Michel will take the positives from this display.
Next up for Rayo Vallecano is a huge clash against fellow strugglers Villarreal. Michel will know they simply have to win next week, if they want to stay in La Liga.
Photo credit to Barcelona via Twitter
