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.
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.
