Barcelona remain perfect to begin the new La Liga season thanks to a third straight 2-1 victory, this time on the road against Rayo Vallecano at the Estadio de Vallecas on Tuesday night. After an awful start to the match the Blaugrana played an amazing second half, and new signing Dani Olmo came off the bench on his debut to completely change the game and score the winner as Barça continue their incredible beginning to life under Hansi Flick. FIRST HALF Barça made a dreadful start to the game, unable to have any control of possession and giving it away easily and in bad positions, allowing Rayo to break quickly and with danger in the early moments.
The Catalans also struggled with their pressing, with poor coordination and communication that led to the opening goal: a failed attempt at the offside trap released winger Jorge de Frutos all alone down the right side, and his cross found Unai López for an easy finish from close range to put Rayo in front just 10 minutes in. Hansi Flick’s side continued to struggle in the following minutes, and they didn’t even have a shot on target until the 20th minute when Iñigo Martínez had a timid attempt saved by Dani Cárdenas. The home team was comfortable and remained a threat on the counter, while Barça showed some improvement with their passing but still struggled to create danger in the final third.
A shot from distance by Lamine Yamal that was also easily saved by Cárdenas was the last good moment in attack for the Blaugrana , who closed the half having more of the ball but doing almost nothing to make it count. The halftime whistle came to end 45 minutes of very poor play from Barça, who needed a lot of improvement to find a way to come back in the second half. SECOND HALF Flick wasted no time in making a change, sending Dani Olmo on at halftime to make his Barça debut.
The new signing almost made an immediate impact just 20 seconds in when he went down in the box and had a legitimate penalty shout, but both the referee and VAR did not give it. Barça had a completely different attitude to start the second half, playing with more urgency and moving the ball a lot quicker between the lines to try and find spaces inside Rayo’s tight defensive structure. They created real chances and were extremely unlucky not to equalize within the first five minutes of the second half, but they didn’t get discouraged: the visitors stayed aggressive, and Olmo hit the crossbar with an absolute rocket from distance as the Catalans’ pressure continued to increase.
And at the hour mark came the reward: a beautifully crafted counter-attack ended with a gorgeous one-two between Pedri and Raphinha and a perfect finish by the Spaniard, who used his left foot to find the bottom corner and make the game all square. Barça had all of the momentum and continued pushing forward with Olmo and Pedri at the heart of everything they did, and it felt as though Barça’s second was just a matter of time. The visitors thought they had taken the lead with 20 minutes remaining when Robert Lewandowski found the bottom corner on the rebound after a Lamine Yamal effort, but the goal was ruled out by VAR for a foul on Jules Kounde in a very controversial decision.
The visitors continued to fight for a winner and had complete control of the game as we reached to the final 10 minutes, and that’s when they finally took the lead: Yamal went on a gorgeous solo run down the right and found Olmo inside the box, and the new signing curled a beauty into the far corner to put Barça in front on his debut. Rayo had eight minutes of regulation plus 10 of added time to try and find a miracle equalizer, but Barça did what they’ve done so well under Flick so far as the visitors controlled the dying moments and were never in trouble, knowing how to waste time and keep possession to stop the home team from launching a late blitz. There was a heartbreaking scene at the very end, however, as Marc Bernal appeared to suffer a serious knee injury and could not return.
Barça were forced to finish the match with 10 men, but the Catalans survived and the final whistle came to give them all three points. This was the toughest and hardest fought of the three wins so far, but Barça earned the victory with a sensational second half and an incredible debut by Dani Olmo. The new signing might have already turned a few skeptics into fans with his first performance as a Blaugrana , and Barça remain perfect to start the new season.
Fight, resilience, quality. Hansi Flick’s Barça is a joy to watch so far. Well done, boys! Rayo : Cárdenas; Balliu, Lejeune, Mumin, Espino; López (Ciss 55’), Valentín (Chavarría 68’); De Frutos (Nteka 64’), Isi, García (Embarba 56’); Camello (Gumbau 64’) Goal: López (10’) Barcelona : Ter Stegen; Kounde, Cubarsí, Iñigo, Martín (Balde 65’); Bernal, Pedri (Fermín 90+1’); Yamal (Víctor 90+6’), Raphinha, Ferran (Olmo 46’); Lewandowski Goals: Pedri (60’), Olmo (82’).
