It’s all over, and Rayo Vallecano holds its nerve to keep out a star-studded Barcelona side for well over 90 minutes.
It was one-way traffic in that half, with Barca being unsuccessful with chance after chance and becoming increasingly frustrated, culminating in the dismissal of Busquets.
Rayo had opportunities here and there, though, and was denied a late snatch-and-grab by the offside flag in a very entertaining game.
Starting lineup:
BARCELONA (4-3-3): Marc-Andre Ter Stegen;
Ronald Araujo, Andreas Christensen, Eric Garcia, Jordi Alba;
Pablo Gavi, Sergio Busquets, Pedri;
Raphinha, Robert Lewandowski, Ousmane Dembele.
RAYO VALLECANO (4-2-3-1): Stole Dimitrievski;
Ivan Balliu, Florian Lejeune, Alejandro Catena, Francisco Garcia;
Pathe Ciss, Unai Lopez; Isi Palazon, Oscar Trejo, Alvaro Garcia;
Sergio Camello.
What does it mean? Attack off sync:
Barcelona’s dominance in the game saw plenty of space for Ousmane Dembele and Raphinha to exploit.
Still, they were unable to connect with Lewandowski in the middle.
While the stats show the hosts had a whopping 21 attempts during the match, few were moments of note – with six being on target and an expected goals (xG) of 1.85.
Barca’s starting attacking trio managed 13 of those attempts, and only three were on target, showing there is still plenty to come.
Lewandowski run ends:
After seven seasons in a row of scoring on the opening game of the season for Bayern Munich.
Robert Lewandowski was unable to provide the same impact on his Barcelona debut.
With an effort chalked off after just 12 minutes, it appeared it would be a long evening for the visitors.
But the Poland international saw his impact limited – though he had the highest xG of Barcelona players with 0.84.
The first half was particularly sparse on chances, with just one shot in the opening 45 minutes and just two touches in the opposition box.
So, what’s next?
Barcelona travels to face Real Sociedad next Sunday, while Rayo Vallecano is back in Catalonia on Friday against Espanyol.
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