Rayo Vallecano-Barcelona is a match of the 31st day of La Liga and is played on Wednesday at 10 pm: lineups, predictions, TV and streaming.
Xavi, after the match with Atletico Madrid, said one of his own, confessing that he doesn’t particularly like matches scheduled in the afternoon.
Blame the sun, which makes the grass drier and ends up penalizing his team. Yet last Sunday Barcelona returned to winning ways after two consecutive draws, beating “Cholo” Simeone’s Colchoneros 1-0 and maintaining its 11-point lead over second-placed Real Madrid. A match, the one with the Madridites, in which Barça repeatedly risked conceding goals but still managed to bring home in the end thanks to its usual impeccable defensive performance. Camp Nou in La Liga has confirmed itself as an impregnable bunker: in its own stadium the Blaugrana are still unbeaten but the number that is most surprising is the number of goals conceded, just two in 15 home matches. A “law” to which Atletico Madrid also had to bow at the end of an uneventful but at the same time intense and no holds barred challenge. The title is now in the bag and in Catalonia they are only waiting for the math to raise their hands to the sky and celebrate.
Barcelona one step away from the title
The former midfielder of the Blaugrana team, at the helm for the past year and a half, however, is not confident and wants his team to close the file as soon as possible.
Isi
That’s why he demands that they stay focused even in this midweek round, which sees Barcelona engaged on the field of Rayo Vallecano in the Spanish capital. The Matagigantes have had another season above expectations but have not been up to the task of continuing to fight for a place in Europe. Their performance for the past few months has been up and down – only one win since February – a consequence of a lack of realistic goals once salvation was achieved well in advance. After their success with Osasuna two weeks ago, Rayo on Saturday came back to lose by getting a comeback at home to Real Sociedad (2-1). Christensen and Sergi Roberto are absent in Barcelona, in addition to the disqualified Busquets, while the Madrid team will be missing experienced Colombian gunner Falcao and midfielder Comesana.
The Prediction
Barcelona are looking forward to the goal and should return with the three points from a tough away match but against a team with no realistic goals. Away from the Camp Nou the Blaugrana are not only solid and it is not excluded that they will concede at least one goal.
The likely lineups of Rayo Vallecano-Barcelona
- RAYO VALLECANO (4-3-3): Dimitrievski; Balliu, Lejeune, Catena, García; Valentín, Ciss, Trejo; Isi, Álvaro, Camello.
- BARCELONA (4-3-3): ter Stegen; Koundé, Araújo, García, Jordi Alba; de Jong, Pedri, Gavi; Raphinha, Ferran Torres, Lewandowski.
POSSIBLE RESULT: 1-2
