- A disappointing start for Xavi and his Barcelona team after playing out a 0-0 draw against a resilient Rayo Vallecano in their La Liga season opener.
- Barcelona’s Robert Lewandowski, in the 13th minute, and Franck Kessie, in the 88th minute, had goals ruled out because of offside.
- A horrible start for Barcelona captain Sergio Busquets after being shown red (two yellows) in the very first match of the season.
Welcome to Sportstar’s highlights of Barcelona’s match against Rayo Vallecano in the first round of fixtures in the 2022-23 La Liga season.
FULL MATCH HIGHLIGHTS
Barcelona 0-0 Rayo Vallecano: Rayo steals a point with an impressive defensive performance at Camp Nou. A disappointing starting match for Xavi and his men. Rayo unbeaten against Barcelona in three La Liga matches now.
Man of the match: Rayo Vallecano keeper Stole Dimitrievski with six saves
Rayo Vallecano with a last chance to steal three points. They have a freekick in a dangerous position......... A disappointing freekick by Pozo as the delivery is not up to the mark.
Late drama- Radamel Falcao puts the ball inside the net from a rebound after Ter Stegen had made a very good initial save but the goal does not stand because of offside. This is the third goal in the match to be ruled out because of offside.
RED CARD- Barcelona captain Sergio Busquets is shown a red card in the first match of the season. It is his second yellow and he gets it for catching Falcao on the face with a flailing arm.
EIGHT ADDED MINUTES- It is not over.
Booking- Dimitrievski is finally shown yellow. He had been pushing the referee throughout the whole match with time wasting.
Offside- Confusion inside the box and Franck Kessie finds space to lash the ball inside the net but the goal is ruled out as he is adjudged offside.
Booking- Pathe Ciss becomes the latest Rayo player to see a yellow card.
Off the line- Lewandowski finds Aubameyang with a lovely ball. Aubameyang cuts in and shoots toward the goal. He beats Dimitrievski but Catena puts in a goalline clearance. Lewandowski is there for the rebound but it is a difficult chance and he misses the target.
Rayo Vallecano Sub: IN- Jose Angel Pozo OUT- Oscar Trejo
Barcelona Sub: IN- Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang OUT- Jordi Alba
Chances
Dembele and Lewandowski have shots at Rayo’s goal- Dembele’s shot is blocked while Lewandowksi’s shot misses the target.
Rayo Vallecano Sub: IN- Salvador Sanchez Ponce OUT- Isi Palazon
This time Lewandowski tries to shield the ball and goes down inside the box in the process. Barcelona players hound the referee for a penalty but they don’t get it.
Booking- Barcelona captain Sergio Busquets is shown a yellow card
Barcelona Sub: IN- Franck Kessie OUT- Pedri
Shot- This time it is Busquets who pulls the trigger. It is a good shot from distance but Dimitrievski pushes the ball away from danger again.
Shot- Fati with a venomous shot but Dimitrievski displays a solid pair of hands by pushing the shot away from danger.
Pedri’s pass is taken well by De Jong who gets the better of his man with a half turn but goes down inside the box. Barcelona wants a penalty but the referee pays no heed.
Barcelona triple change: IN- Frankie De Jong, Ansu Fati, Sergi Roberto OUT- Gavi, Raphinha, Christensen
Rayo Vallecano double change: IN- Oscar Valentin, Radamel Falcao OUT- Unai Lopez, Sergio Camello
Booking- Florian Lejeune gets booked this time for a tug at Lewandowski’s shirt. Both of Rayo’s centre-backs are on a yellow now.
Chance- Barcelona with another chance to score. Lewandowski with a chance to poke the ball inside the net but a melee inside the box prevents him from doing so. Finally, Dimitrievski catches the ball.
Chance- Camello with a wonderful chance to open the scoring but he just couldn’t get his shot away. He gets around Ter Stegen and tries to find the far post with a shot on the turn but Ter Stegen denies him. Carnelio took too much time.
Raphinha continues troubling the Rayo defence with his speed. This time, he cuts in from the left and finds Alba on the overlap. However, play stops- Alba offisde.
Lewandowski with an early chance to make a mark but he cannot get his shot away as it is blocked. The ball goes out for a corner.
Second half kicks off and the match is yet to have its first goal. Stay tuned for live updates.
Barcelona 0-0 Rayo Vallecano
Booking- Catena is shown a yellow card after tackling Lewandowski from behind.
Palazon does well to clear the ball as a low cross is flashed across the six-yard box. Any sort of touch by a Barca player and there was a chance of a goal.
Five added minutes
Booking- Trejo stops Pedri in his tracks and that is a clear yellow card.
Garcia witha dangerous cross from the left flank but the Barca defence manages to clear the ball.
Barca with a lot of possession around Rayo’s penalty area trying to find an opening to pierce the defence but the visitors have kept their defensive shape well till now.
Lewandowski played a wonderful aerial through ball but Dimitrievski reaches the ball before he could and gathers it. The bounce of the ball made it difficult for the Polish striker as it got away from him very fast.
Barca with a good passage of pressure with plenty of crosses coming into the box. The game plan is clear- get the ball to Lewandowski. Rayo has managed to hold on so far with disciplined defending.
Shot- Dembele with an opportunity to shoot this time. He shifts the ball to his favourite left foot and hits a low-grounded shot but it is straight at the keeper. Easy save for Dimitrievski.
Despite dominating overall gameplay and enjoying 70% of the ball, Barca has not been able to make Rayo keeper Dimitrievski work.
Dembele and Raphinha have switched flanks- The Frenchman has moved to the right and the Brazilian, to the left.
Quite humid in Barcelona as play halts momentarily for a water break.
Raphinha tries to find Lewandowski from a Barca freekick but the Brazilian put a bit too much weight on his pass. Lewandowski made the run but could reach it.
Gavi pings a good ball inside the box. Lewandowski jumped to get his head to the ball but cannot get a touch.
Raphinha again- Dembele squares the ball from the left flank and Raphinha takes a first-time shot. His shot, however, is far from impressive as the ball sailed out of play.
Shot- Raphinha cuts in again and tries to find the near-post this time. But his grounded shot is not on target.
Booking- Barcelona’s Ousmane Dembele becomes the first player to get booked tonight for bringing down Ciss.
Lewandowski has to wait: The Camp Nou was already celebrating when Robert Lewandowski dinked the ball into the net but the assistant referee raises his flag. Offside.
Raphinha looking dangerous early in the first half. This time, he cuts in and shoots but his shot is blocked.
Raphinha goes down inside the penalty box and there is a roar around the Camp Nou. The referee, however, is unperturbed and waves for play to go on.
Alvaro makes a darting run down the left flank but Araujo puts in a brilliant sliding tackle to prevent the cross.
Barcelona enjoying early possession as expected. Rayo Vallecano are content with Barca players having the ball in their own box.
KICKOFF! And we are underway! A new season, four economic levers pulled, five signings made,- how will Barcelona fare in its La Liga opener? Stay tuned to find out.
12:00 am: Stat time!
STAT ATTACK
11:36 pm: Lineups are out!
Barcelona XI: Ter Stegen (GK), Araujo, Chrsitensen, Garcia, Alba; Gavi, Busquets, Pedri; Raphinha, Lewandowski, Dembele.
Rayo Vallecano XI: Dimitrievski (GK); Garcia, Catena, Lejeune, Balliu; Ciss, Lopez; Alvaro Garcia, Trejo, Palazon, Camello
11:00 pm: Head-to-head record
Barcelona and Rayo Vallecano have played 15 matches against each other. Out of the 15, Barcelona has won 13 matches while Rayo Vallecano has won two.
Match Preview
Xavi Hernandez-led FC Barcelona makes a trip to Madrid on the opening weekend, where it will face Rayo Vallecano, which completed the league double over Barca last season.
Barcelona has registered four of its newly signed players ahead of its opening game of the season at home to Rayo Vallecano on Saturday, a La-Liga source has told Reuters.
Midfielder Franck Kessie, defender Andreas Christensen and forwards Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha are now available to face Rayo Vallecano, though Jules Kounde still needs clearance.
Barca had to meet LaLiga’s salary cap to register its new signings but several “economic levers” including new investment deals released funding after the final lever was triggered.
Barcelona would have to free up so-called salary mass to register 23-year-old France defender Kounde.
LaLiga restrictions also affected players who renewed deals in the close season but forward Ousmane Dembele and defensive midfielder Sergi Roberto have now also been registered.
Barcelona has been using several mechanisms to increase its revenue in order to offset losses, reduce debt and fulfil LaLiga’s financial fair play rules.
The club said on Friday it had sold a 24.5% stake in its audiovisual studio to production company Orpheus Media for 100 million euros ($102.58 million) to raise funds.
Barca last month signed a deal with digital fan token firm Socios.com to sell 25% of its stake in Barca Studios.
-via Reuters
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