Barcelona was enough to beat Rayo Vallecano with a narrow score of 1-0 to win three valuable points in the competition to become the 2024/2025 Spanish League champion. Hansi Flick’s squad showed a mature performance.
Tuesday, February 18, 2025, Barca entertained Rayo Vallecano at the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys in the 24th week of La Liga 2024/2025. This match was an opportunity for Blaugrana to seize the top of the standings.
Rayo fought back well, but Barca appeared solid. This time, Barca’s only winning goal came from Robert Lewandowski’s penalty execution in the 28th minute.
The additional three points boosted Barca’s position to the top of the 2024/2025 Spanish League standings with 51 points, overtaking their rivals Real Madrid who were in second place with the same number of points.
Barcelona immediately attacked as soon as the match started. Rayo were confused at the start of the match, but were still able to defend well. Barca’s pressure continued to be maintained in the first 20 minutes.
In the 26th minute, Barca was awarded a penalty for Ciss’s foul on Martinez. Lewandowski stepped forward as the executioner and managed to outwit the goalkeeper. Goal! Barca 1-0 Rayo.
Rayo managed to score a reply goal in the 44th minute, Ciss’s high pass was successfully continued by De Frutos. However, the goal was disallowed for offside. The score remained 1-0.
In the second half, Rayo increased the tempo of the game to chase a reply goal. Barca controlled the rhythm calmly. 15 minutes passed.
Barca’s ball possession dominance continued until the middle of the second half. Rayo had not yet found a shooting opportunity. Barca then made a number of player substitutions.
Entering the final 10 minutes, Barca still could not find a goal to lock in the victory. Rayo got a big chance in the 90th minute, but De Frutos’ header was still wide.
Additional time of up to 7 minutes was not enough for both teams to find a goal. The score is 1-0 and three valuable points for Barcelona.
Wojciech Szczesny deserves to be named the best player aka man of the match Barcelona vs Rayo Vallecano.
Wojciech Szczesny came on as a starter in this match. He performed solidly under the crossbar with 4 important saves during the 90 minutes.
In more detail, Szczesny made 2 diving saves, 4 saves in the penalty box, 11 recoveries, and 7 throws.
Rayo got several golden opportunities in this match, but failed to produce goals because Szczesny performed solidly to secure Barca’s advantage.
Szczesny’s actions and contributions in this match were given a rating of 8.3 by FotMob, the highest among other players on the field.
