Home ›› 28 Apr 2023 ›› Sport
Rayo Vallecano stunned impotent La Liga leaders Barcelona on Wednesday with a 2-1 win, outplaying the Catalans at a rowdy Vallecas.
Alvaro Garcia and Fran Garcia struck to earn the hosts a memorable victory, with Robert Lewandowski pulling one back late on for Barca.
Xavi Hernandez’s side remain 11 points clear of second-placed Real Madrid with seven matches remaining.
After champions Madrid lost at Girona on Tuesday their hopes of defending the title are virtually over, despite Barcelona following suit with a deserved defeat in the capital.
Xavi’s side have won just one of their last four league matches -- a narrow triumph over Atletico Madrid on Sunday -- as they limp towards the finish line and a first title since 2019.
Barcelona’s coach urged his players to be wary of Rayo’s threat before the game, but they did not heed his warning. The Catalans have not beaten the Madrid club in their last four league meetings.
“They played a great game, they deserved to win, we weren’t good enough,” Barcelona defender Ronald Araujo told Mo-vistar.
“In this ground they are very intense, we made two mistakes and they scored their goals.”
Xavi was without suspended captain Sergio Busquets but handed Pedri his first start since he was injured in February.
Frenkie de Jong started as the lone defensive midfielder and endured a torrid night, although the same was true for most of his team-mates too.
Sergio Camello might have put Rayo in front early on after a Pedri mistake, but Marc-Andre ter Stegen made a good save to deny the on-loan Atletico forward.
