Barça came out top of the Vallecas gridiron. The victory was also signed by debutant Dani Olmo. So the joy was complete for the Blaugrana, already winners at Mestalla and against Athletic. The Barcelona players needed a player who did not know the curse of Rayo’s pitch, inaccessible since 2018 and found in Olmo the decisive player to return to claim victory as in the days of Messi. The team was very different with and without Olmo. They did not know how to defend or attack in his absence and, instead, they came back with the departure of a striker signed up at the last minute due to Christensen’s injury and who symbolizes the new times of Barcelona. Olmo fit like a glove in a squad that is overflowing with physicality since Flick’s coaching staff took over.
1
Dani Cárdenas, Iván Balliu, Florian Lejeune, Abdul Mumin, Alfonso Espino, Álvaro García (Adri Embarba, min. 55), Jorge de Frutos (Gerard Gumbau, min. 63), Óscar Valentín (Pep Chavarría, min. 67), Unai López (Pathé Ciss, min. 55), Sergio Camello (Randy Nteka, min. 63) and Isi Palazón
2
Marc-André ter Stegen, Gerard Martín (Alejandro Balde, min. 64), Iñigo Martínez, Pau Cubarsí, Jules Koundé, Pedri (Fermín López, min. 90), Lamine Yamal (Pau Víctor, min. 95), Raphinha, Marc Bernal, Ferran Torres (Dani Olmo, min. 45) and Robert Lewandowski
Goals
1-0 min. 8: Unai Lopez. 1-1 min. 59: Pedri. 1-2 min. 81: Dani Olmo
Referee Cesar Soto Degree
Isi (min. 46), Abdul Mumin (min. 70), Pathé Ciss (min. 87), Marc Bernal (min. 93)
The uniqueness of the pitch may have had an impact on the line-up and the only change made by Flick. Gerard Martín played, a full-back who was less deep than the non-performing Balde, who was left on the bench with the recently signed Dani Olmo. Martín has beaten Álex Valle – on loan to Celtic – and Héctor in Flick’s selection. The coach saw no reason to bench Raphinha or Ferran and surprisingly kept Olmo out of the starting line-up. There was no doubt, however, about Pedri’s starting position after his performance against Athletic. The plan went so wrong that after nine minutes the score was 1-0.
Unlike on Saturday, Pedri was very imprecise at the start, as was Raphinha, both of them being overwhelmed by a very intense rival collectively and electric individually with Isi, Álvaro García and Espino. Barça did not know how to keep the ball, they combined poorly, without pause and rushed into the aggressiveness of Iñigo Pérez’s team. The attacks continued until Unai López scored after a cross from De Frutos, superior to Ferran and Martin, a stab down the right flank of Rayo. The local determination contrasted with the pusillanimous character of Barça.
The Blaugrana struggle to get into games, they are lazy and vulnerable when they play without tension and nerve, exhausted in the fight for the ball in each duel in Vallecas. The most direct team was Rayo, the same one that did not shoot at goal in Getafe, and not Barça, slow and predictable, with no other player than Lamine. The forward monopolised the attack against a rival well positioned against Cárdenas. Rayo attacked better with 0-0 until Unai López scored and defended very well to make it 1-0. The local counterattacks had more substance than Barcelona’s possession.
The game demanded quick changes at half-time from Flick. Olmo’s departure was as reasonable and expected as Ferran’s substitution. Barcelona needed depth, which they got with Raphinha, and they also needed ambition, which they got with Olmo. Lewandowski failed to equalise from a very clear chance and Olmo hit the crossbar after asking for a penalty for a foul by Lejeune. The game had turned in favour of the Blaugrana, as is usual in the second half since Flick’s arrival. The 1-1 scoreline was as certain as the 1-0 scoreline had been before.
The equaliser came from a long run by Pedri, which ended with a control, a turn and a left-footed cross after combining with Raphinha. Rayo’s poor defending revealed their exhaustion and the need for their coach to move the bench and fill the midfield to contain Barcelona.
The Rayo coach’s hand was not enough to contain a Barça that was brimming with health in the second half, as in Montjuïc and Valencia. The difference is that the goal was not scored by Lewandowski – the VAR disallowed it – but by Olmo. The Barça player opened the scoring with a left-footed shot placed at the left post of Cárdenas after a run from the byline by Lamine Yamal. The impact was so tremendous that it ended the match in Vallecas.
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