Barcelona return to La Liga action on Saturday with a trip to recent bogey team Rayo Vallecano.
A close to faultless start to the season results-wise has slipped after two defeats in Barca’s last four games, with losses to Real Madrid in Spain’s top flight and Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League puncturing the optimism around Catalonia.
Rayo have been in La Liga since their 2021 promotion and have a strong record against Barca in that time, though they’ve drawn a whopping six of their last eight league games coming into this fixture. Xavi will hope his side can reset somewhat after the international break, having failed to hit the heights that saw Barca win La Liga last season.
Their trip to Rayo won’t be one for Barca’s squeamish fans as they have lost three of the past five meetings with the Madrid side.
Barca have the attacking quality in the starting lineup to be considered favourites and need to win.
Credit: 90min.com
