Barça neither extends the advantage nor comes close to the title. Neither lose it nor cut it. No hurry. It seems that neither comes nor goes. He neither feels nor suffers. But Rayo once again exposed him, like Almería, teams whose lives depend on them. While the blaugrana lack strength. They have been kept in reserve. They run short of ideas. And it seems that they want to win by inertia, letting themselves go, due to the omission of their rivals. Barcelona has a monumental bird. The League ends dry, dehydrated, without food or nutrients. And his luck is that Madrid has its head elsewhere. Álvaro García and Fran García were hungrier than Koundé and De Jong in the two franjirrojos goals.
The leader goes with his tongue out and also does not feel good traveling to Madrid. After drawing at nothing in Getafe, they lost in Vallecas as before they fell at the Bernabéu. He has only won in the Metropolitan and by the minimum.
The defeat of the whites in Girona gave Xavi more arguments not to make inventions. But not like that. The Busquets sanction was covered by De Jong and not by Eric Garcia (who played there in Elx against the bottom team) and made a hole in Pedri's midfield, in his first start since he was injured on February 16. The canary was the only change because the clear objective was to continue the second half against Atlético. Ferran Torres, with his goal against Oblak, also earned a repeat up front. But it was null.
But the fluidity and control that was seen before the colchoneros at the Camp Nou vanished in Vallecas with Rayo de Iraola in front. Xavi warned his players that they had to be more practical than ever, but they didn't pay too much attention to him. They weren't fine with the ball at all and began to play long. Rarely did the shipment reach its recipient. Either he left the lines or he stayed in the hands of the locals, who did justice to the label of "heaviest team in the First Division" that the Barça coach had given them.
In Vallecas, Ska-p sounds and a flag with the slogan Working Class is waved non-stop. These are two details that indicate to the visitors that they are going to have to sweat every ball and every point they want to win. Knowing the idiosyncrasies of the club, it is not strange that little Isi is enthroned and that Sergio Camello has fit in so well, a warrior striker on loan from Atlético, who perhaps lacks a goal but who does not give a ball for lost.
He showed his two faces throughout the game. On the one hand, he missed the first great opportunity when he stood in front of Ter Stegen but could not beat the German, who gave him a scare in the warm-up, but he showed with that stop below that he was recovered. On the next play, Camello beat Gavi in close combat, something that is not within everyone's reach, he reached the front where he saw Álvaro García attack from the left. Ter Stegen was left without an answer to the crossed and low shot from the small winger that became 1-0.
The goal made Barcelona nervous, which got involved in several decisions by Gil Manzano, who almost immediately admonished Balde, Alba (for protesting on the bench) and Gavi. Only in the final stretch of the first half did the blaugrana focus and came close to drawing. In fact, Lewandowski found him with a good finish with his left foot after a great assist from Pedri but the Pole was in an illegal position by very little. The goalscorer and star of Barça, infallible at the start of the course, had only scored in one of the last eight games (a double against Elche and that's it), so the offensive flow of Xavi's team has also plummeted. Before, the Pole had not been able to overcome Dimitrevski. The leader is very short of auction.
The break cut the blaugrana reaction. And the exit from the booth was traced to that of the first part. Rayo returned to enter with more intensity and surprised Barcelona with the 2-0. Frenkie de Jong was confident being the last man, he reached the ball but without strength and the rebound took Fran García who pressed like a bullet. The fang on the side had a prize, he headed for Ter Stegen and beat him.
Since October that the German, the king of clean sheets, had not conceded two goals in the League. And it was also in Madrid, at the Bernabeu.
Xavi had no choice but to move the bench in search of an attack of pride from a leader who claims to be champion. But his team barely rebelled, surely sheltered in that it will be worth it to win at home to ensure the title, which is a double-edged sword, especially in terms of image.
Paradoxically, it was without Pedri, De Jong and Gavi, replaced by Eric, Kessié and Pablo Torre in the engine room, when Barça got into the game, almost by chance, with a great volley from Lewandowski. But it was a mirage of a Barcelona that does not seem to be in a hurry. He did not have it to tie. He doesn't even have it for singing the alirón.
Valley Lightning: Dimitrievski; Balliu, Catena, Lejeune, Fran Garcia; Unai Lopez (Chavarria 80), Oscar Valentine (Mumin 88); Clothes, Trejo (Pathé Ciss 63), Alvaro Garcia (Salvi 80); and Camel (Of Thomas 88).
Barcelona: Ter Stegen; Koundé, Araujo, Marcos Alonso (Jordi Alba 57), Balde; Frenkie de Jong (Eric Garcia 79), Pedri (Kessie 68), Gavi (Pablo Tower 79); Ferran Torres (87) and Lewandowski.
Goals: 1-0: M.18 Álvaro García; 2-0: M.52 Fran Garcia; 2-1: M.83 Lewandowski.
Referee: Jesús Gil Manzano (Extremadura Committee). He admonished Dimitrievski (90), from Rayo; and Balde (32), Jordi Alba (34), Gavi (36), Raphinha (61), from Barcelona.
Incidents: match corresponding to day 31 of the Santander League, played at the Vallecas Stadium before some 14,000 spectators
