FC Barcelona 1-0 Rayo: The 'king' regains his 'throne' in LaLiga!

FC Barcelona is once again the super leader of LaLiga EA Sports 2024-25. The blaugrana team returned to the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys to face Rayo Vallecano, and in a total display of dominance and good football, they achieved a historic victory (1-0) that allows them to take the top spot in the table after the 'slips' of Real Madrid and Atlético, surpassing the colchoneros (50) and equaling the merengues (51).

Hansi Flick's team offered a new recital in the blaugrana stronghold, delivering a show of authority against a rival that, in the recent history between both clubs, represented a 'headache' for the team. With this victory, the culé team regains a leadership they had lost five rounds ago after falling to Atleti and are getting closer to their 28th title in LaLiga.

An overwhelming first half for Barça

The Barça came out like a 'storm' onto the pitch at Montjuïc, aware of the importance of adding three points. The Catalans' dominance was overwhelming, and their lead could have been greater if not for a great performance from Rayo's goalkeeper, Augusto Batalla.

The blaugrana team, orchestrated by a spectacular Pedri González once again, had a couple of serious chances for danger at the feet of Raphinha and Lamine Yamal, but the rival goalkeeper prevented the fall of his goal on both occasions with two good saves. However, the inevitable Robert Lewandowski would tip the scales in favor of the locals.

In the 26th minute, Iñigo Martínez was 'tackled' inside the area by Pathé Ciss, and after the VAR intervention, the main referee pointed to the penalty spot in favor of Barça. The Polish '9' converted it into a goal, his twentieth in this edition of LaLiga, opening the scoring for the culés, who deserved a greater difference in the result.

However, the team led by Iñigo Pérez gave a scare on a couple of occasions before heading to the locker rooms. First, Nteka and Álvaro García came close to equalizing with close-range shots, but Szczesny made a couple of crucial saves to maintain his team's lead. Later, De Frutos managed to break through 'Tek's' goal, but his goal was rightly disallowed for an offside by the Angolan, keeping the blaugranas' partial lead at halftime.

Lewandowski, on a record pace in LaLiga

With his goal in the 28th minute, 'Lewy' increased his record as the player who has scored the first goal for his team the most times in LaLiga this season (9). Following him are Ante Budimir and Kylian Mbappé, who have done so on 7 occasions.

Additionally, Robert reached 20 goals in just 23 matches played in the league tournament, further increasing the distance from Mbappé in the top scorers' ranking ('Kiki' has 17) and maintaining the race for the Golden Boot, placing third in the ranking just 1 goal behind Harry Kane (21) and 3 behind Mohamed Salah (23), the current leader of the ranking.

Barça solidifies the comeback in LaLiga

In the second half of the match, Hansi Flick's team maintained the trend of the first 45 minutes and continued their overwhelming superiority against a Rayo that tried to approach the blaugrana area but found an unbeatable Szczesny and a duo of Cubarsí-Iñigo that once again showed the same level that crowned them as one of the best in the continent in the first half of the season.

The Barça sought a goal that would allow them to put distance between themselves and the franjirrojos, but the finishing and the rival goalkeeper prevented the arrival of the second goal of the night. Lewandowski sent a shot wide in the 53rd minute, and in the 70th minute, Dani Olmo lifted the blaugrana fans with a magical technical gesture that left him one-on-one with Batalla, but he snatched the ball away and made a brutal save from Raphinha's shot after the rebound.

The Catalans continued their siege on Rayo, albeit without much success, but played intelligently to maintain a lead that, although unjustly short, allowed them to add three points to reclaim the top of the standings and get closer to the twenty-eighth title of LaLiga.

Barça regains the top of the standings

The FC Barcelona took advantage of the 'stumbles' of Real Madrid and Atlético de Madrid to regain the lead in LaLiga EA Sports 2024/25. The merengue team visited Osasuna (1-1) and confirmed their crisis with a draw that extends their streak to 3 matches without a victory, adding 8 points from the last 15 with 2 victories, 2 draws, and 1 defeat.

The colchoneros, for their part, also could not go beyond a draw against Celta (1-1) and missed the opportunity to take the first position in the table. Simeone's team is also going through a worrying crisis of results in the league, adding 6 points from the last 15 with 1 victory, 3 draws, and 1 defeat.

The culés (48), meanwhile, are experiencing a completely opposite present and have capitalized on it to return to the top of the standings. The Catalans are going through a sweet moment and have strung together a remarkable streak of results since the start of the year, remaining unbeaten and adding 16 points from 18 with 5 victories and 1 draw, catching up with Madrid at the top of the table with 51 points, but surpassing them after the victory in the Clásico, and overtaking Atleti (50), who is now third.

In this way, the Barça makes a statement and regains the 'throne' of the local competition, which they lost in the last match of 2024 after being defeated by the colchoneros at home (1-2). Since then, the situation for the blaugranas has taken a radical turn, and they have once again confirmed themselves as the best team in the world and have now taken another step towards their twenty-eighth title of LaLiga.

Technical sheet of the match:    

• FC Barcelona, 1: Szczesny (P); Fort (Koundé, min. 66), Cubarsí (Eric García, min. 81), Íñigo Martínez, Balde; Frenkie De Jong (Casadó, min. 88), Pedri, Gavi (Dani Olmo, min. 66); Lamine Yamal, Raphinha, Lewandowski (Ferran Torres, min. 81).
• Rayo Vallecano, 0: Batalla; Ratiu, Lejeune, Mumin, Chavarría; Ciss (Valentín, min. 74), Pedro Díaz (Gumbau, min. 61); De Frutos, Isi (Trejo, min. 74), Álvaro (Guardiola, min. 87); Nteka (Embarba, min. 61).
• Goals: 1-0 Robert Lewandowski (min. 28).
• Referee: Melero López. He cautioned Rayo's Ciss, Embarba, and Florin and the culés Gavi and Ferran Torres.