La Liga Match Preview: Barcelona Looks to Settle Score With Rayo Vallecano

La Liga Match Preview: Barcelona Looks to Settle Score With Rayo Vallecano

Keba Mothoagae
updated at April 12, 2023 at 8:01 PM
  • Barcelona and Rayo Vallecano will round off this weekend's action on matchday 33 of the 2021/22 La Liga season
  • La Blaugrana is aiming to continue their strong ending to a season that started disastrously back in August
  • For good measure, Vallecano's 1-0 victory over their hosts was the straw that broke the camel's back when it came to Ronald Koeman's tenure as Barca coach, resulting in his sacking

Barcelona and Rayo Vallecano will lock horns at the Nou Camp later this evening.

The hosts will look to consolidate their position of second place with 63 points after a remarkable turnaround. Vallecano is in 14th place on 37 points, relatively safe from relegation.

La Liga Match Preview Barcelona vs Rayo Vallecano CF Nou Camp
Rayo Vallecano's Radamel Falcao and Barcelona's Gerard Pique tussle for the ball in the corresponding fixture last October.
Source: Getty Images

The Catalans would move to within 12 points of log leaders Real Madrid, though any hopes of winning the league are out of the question, as Los Blancos are three points away from the title with five matches of the season remaining.

A Radamel Falcao strike was the difference between the sides back in October when La Blaugrana's season was in a state of disarray under, with the 1-0 loss resulting in the sacking of Dutchman Ronald Koeman as coach.

Since the appointment of Xavi Hernandez, Barcelona has rattled up the log table in a run that has seen team winning 14 out of their last 20 matches. The visitors shouldn't pose a problem, having won just one out of their last five matches in the league.

Barcelona vs Rayo Vallecano predicted line-ups:

Barcelona's predicted line-up: Marc-Andre er Stegen; Sergino Dest, Eric Garcia, Clement Lenglet, Jordi Alba; Gavi, Sergio Busquets, Frankie de Jong; Dembele, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Ferran Torres.

Rayo Vallecano's predicted line-up: Stole Dimitrievski; Ivan Balliu, Nikola Maras, Alejandro Catena, Fran Garcia; Oscar Valentin, Santi Comesana; Isi Palazon, Oscar Trejo, Alvari Garcia; Sergi Guardiola.

La Liga match report: Early Aubameyang strike sends Barcelona back into second place

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyabg's 11th-minute header proved to be the difference in an engrossing 1-0 win for Barcelona against Real Sociedad at the Reale Arena in Sebastian.

As reported by Sports Brief, the Gabonese striker's 11th goal for the Catalans saw them move back up to second place on the La Liga table on 63 points, the same as Sevilla but separated by goal difference with a game in hand.

There is no denying that the home team had opportunities they will rue missing.

Authors
Keba Mothoagae photo
Keba Mothoagae
Editor- Local Desk
Tags
World