Rayo Vallecano vs Barcelona

Barcelona’s quest to regain the title in La Liga continues at Campo de Futbol de Vallecas as they encounter Rayo Vallecano.

From the ashes of a disastrous 2023/24 season, a new-look Rayo Vallecano team has emerged, bidding to improve on a catastrophic 17th-place finish last term. Inigo Perez’s side commenced the new campaign with a morale-boosting 2-1 win at Real Sociedad before drawing 0-0 against Getafe at home in round two. Despite starting a third consecutive La Liga season on a two-match unbeaten run, the hosts must tread carefully here, knowing they lost on matchday three on both previous occasions, including a humiliating 7-0 defeat to Atletico Madrid last season. As bizarre as it sounds, Barcelona’s upcoming visit bodes well for Rayo Vallecano’s bid to avoid such a fate here, considering they’ve won twice in their last three home league H2Hs (D1). Moreover, they’ve only lost twice across their previous eight home matches in La Liga (W3, D3).

On the other hand, Barcelona might have struggled in the transfer window due to the club’s well-documented turmoil, yet they’ve excelled in La Liga action under new boss Hansi Flick. Last season’s runners-up followed a 2-1 comeback win at Valencia with an identical home victory against Athletic Bilbao on matchday two to enter round three as one of only two La Liga teams with a 100% record. Los Blaugranas may need to pull off another comeback if the recent history of this fixture is anything to go by, with the Catalan powerhouse conceding first in their last five league visits to Vallecano (W1, D1, L2). However, there’s a silver lining in case this scenario repeats all over. They’ve bagged precisely two goals in five away league games straight in the build-up to this trip (W4, L1).