Barcelona vs rayo vallecano: Rayo Vallecano vs Barcelona live score, H2H and lineups

Rayo Vallecano vs Barcelona, La Liga: Team News, Preview, Lineups, Score Prediction

Competition/Round: 2022-23 La Liga, Matchday 31

Barcelona Outs & Doubts: Sergio Busquets, Andreas Christensen, Ousmane Dembélé, Sergi Roberto (out)

Rayo Outs & Doubts: Radamel Falcao, Santi Comesaña (out)

Date/Time: Wednesday, April 26, 2023, 10pm CET (Barcelona), 9pm BST/WAT (UK & Nigeria), 4pm ET, 1pm PT (USA), 1.30am IST (India, Thursday)

Venue: Campo de Fútbol de Vallecas, Madrid, Spain

Referee: Jesús Gil Manzano

VAR: José Luis González González

How to watch on TV: ESPN Deportes (USA), TSN 3 (Canada), Viaplay Sports 1 (UK), SuperSport (Nigeria), Sports18 (India), Not Available (Spain), others

How to watch online: ESPN+ (USA), LaLigaTV (UK), DAZN (Spain), others

Following a hard-fought, crucial win over Atlético Madrid at the weekend, Barcelona return to action on Wednesday with a trip to the Spanish capital for a La Liga clash against Rayo Vallecano at the Campo de Fútbol de Vallecas.

Barça come into this one after a much-needed victory and, more importantly, an excellent performance against a very good team that tested them and gave them a real scare in the end. Finishing was a problem, but the chance creation and quality of team play was encouraging after weeks of terrible attacking football and apathetic performances.

The return of Frenkie De Jong and Pedri from injury helped improve the level of play, and the team will be very close to full strength when Andreas Christensen and Ousmane Dembélé return at the weekend. Barça are healthy again and could clinch the title with time to spare if they continue to play well, finish their chances and get more wins on the board.

And thanks to Real Madrid’s loss to Tati Castellanos and Girona on Tuesday, the Blaugrana can increase their lead at the top of the table to 14 points with seven matches to go, effectively ending the title race and starting the countdown to the official celebration of their first league trophy in four years.

But getting all three points against Wednesday’s opponents is no easy feat. Casual viewers of La Liga might look at Rayo’s position in the table and the fact they’ve won only one of their last 10 in the league and think this should be easy work for the should-be champs. But it’s anything but that: Rayo have been Barça’s bogey side for years, and always play really well against the Catalans with a gameplan based on intensity, high pressing and courageous attacking play.

Their recent run of form has virtually eliminated them from European contention after looking like a lock for the Europa League places less than two months ago, but a run of bad luck and injuries has derailed what should have been a great season for one of the most underrated teams in the Top 5 leagues. They are legitimately good, and always bring their A-game when facing Barça.

But they are missing two key pieces in defensive midfield anchor Santi Comesaña and striker Radamel Falcão, and Comesaña’s absence is especially important given how well he’s played against the likes of Pedri and De Jong in past meetings.

Barça are favorites, no question, but they can’t take this Rayo team for granted. It’ll be a real battle, but a win will pretty much seal the deal when it comes to the title race. If we also see a great performance from the team, then this will pretty much be a dream couple of days.

Let’s dance.

POSSIBLE LINEUPS

Barcelona (4-3-3): Ter Stegen; Kounde, Araujo, Eric, Balde; Gavi, De Jong, Pedri; Raphinha, Lewandowski, Ferran

Rayo (4-2-3-1): Dimitrievski; Balliu, Lejeune, Catena, García; Valentín, Ciss; Isi, Trejo, Álvaro; Camello

PREDICTION

Rayo is always a brutal test, but this is the best time to face them without two key players and in the middle of a bad run of form. They will be intense and tough, but Barça have more than enough to get the win: 2-0 to the good guys.

Preview: Rayo Vallecano vs. Barcelona – prediction, team news, lineups

Sports Mole previews Wednesday’s La Liga clash between Rayo Vallecano and Barcelona, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.

La Liga leaders Barcelona will be looking to extend their unbeaten top-flight run to eight matches when they travel to the Estadio de Vallecano to face Rayo Vallecano on Wednesday night.

The visitors, meanwhile, are seeking to return to winning ways as they bid to stay in the mix to secure a place in Europe for next season.

Match preview

© Reuters

After ending an eight-game winless run with a 2-1 home victory over Osasuna, Rayo Vallecano suffered their 10th La Liga defeat of the season at the hands of Real Sociedad last weekend, losing 2-1 in San Sebastian.

Los Franjirrojos opened the scoring courtesy of a 57th-minute strike from Isi Palazon, but Sociedad restored parity just two minutes later through Alexander Sorloth before an own goal from Florian Lejeune nine minutes from time completed the comeback for the hosts.

Andoni Iraola‘s side were challenging for a top-six finish earlier this year, and while hopes of European qualification remain alive, their slump in form over the last few months has seen them slip to nine in the La Liga table, seven points behind Villarreal in sixth place.

Nevertheless, Rayo are still on course to improve on last season’s 12th-placed finish and either match or better their highest-ever La Liga position of eighth place achieved in the 2012-13 campaign, with just one point separating them from Osasuna in eighth.

Los Franjirrojos will be optimistic of coming away with a positive result on Wednesday as they are unbeaten in their last three meetings with Barcelona, with back-to-back 1-0 triumphs last season followed by a goalless draw at Camp Nou back in August.

© Reuters

Barcelona ended a three-game losing run without scoring in all competitions when they secured a slender 1-0 home victory over Atletico Madrid last weekend.

Ferran Torres scored his first goal at Camp Nou since October and the only goal of the game on the stroke of half time to help the Catalan giants claim their 24th La Liga win of the campaign – their highest top-flight win tally after 30 games since 2015-16.

Barca currently sit 11 points clear of reigning champions Real Madrid in second place and they are guaranteed to lift the La Liga title if they come out on top in five of their final eight games of the season.

Xavi‘s side have only lost two league games all season but both of those took place on the road, with a 3-1 El Clasico defeat to Real Madrid in October followed by a shock 1-0 loss to Almeria in February.

Barcelona’s chances of success will be boosted if Robert Lewandowski can find his scoring boots; the Polish striker has found the net just twice in his last eight games across all competitions, drawing a blank in each of his last four outings, and both goals during this run were scored in the 4-0 away win over basement club Elche at the beginning of this month.

Rayo Vallecano La Liga form:

  • L
  • D
  • D
  • L
  • W
  • L

Barcelona La Liga form:

  • W
  • W
  • W
  • D
  • D
  • W

Barcelona form (all competitions):

  • W
  • W
  • L
  • D
  • D
  • W

Team News

© Reuters

Rayo Vallecano forward Radamel Falcao, who has scored four goals in six previous meetings with Barcelona, is ruled out with a muscle injury, while Santi Comesana will serve a one-match ban after picking up his fifth yellow card of the season last time out.

However, centre-back Alejandro Catena and winger Alvaro Garcia are both available for selection after serving one-game suspensions, and the duo are set to return to the first XI at the expense of Abdul Mumin and Andres Martin respectively.

Raul de Tomas was handed just his fourth league start of the campaign last weekend, but the striker could be replaced in the starting lineup by Sergio Camello.

As for Barcelona, Ousmane Dembele, Sergi Roberto (both hamstring) and Andreas Christensen (calf) all remain sidelined with injuries, while Sergio Busquets will serve a one-match suspension due to an accumulation of yellow cards.

The absence of Busquets could see Franck Kessie recalled to the starting lineup to operate in the pivot role, with Frenkie De Jong, Gavi and Pedri also battling for a start in centre-midfield.

Pedri will also compete with Torres and Ansu Fati for a place on the left flank, while Lewandowski is expected to continue in attack despite his poor run of form in front of goal.

Rayo Vallecano possible starting lineup:
Dimitrievski; Balliu, Lejeune, Catena, F. Garcia; Ciss, Valentin; Palazon, Trejo, A. Garcia; Camello

Barcelona possible starting lineup:
Ter Stegen; Kounde, Araujo, Alonso, Balde; Gavi, Kessie, De Jong; Raphinha, Lewandowski, Torres

We say: Rayo Vallecano 1-2 Barcelona

There has been little to separate the two teams in recent meetings, with Rayo Vallecano coming away as the happier side in each of the last three encounters, and they will be confident of causing another upset on Wednesday in front of their home supporters.

However, with champions-elect Barca keen to get the job done at the summit, we expect Xavi’s men to edge a closely-fought contest in the Spanish capital.

For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.

Top tip

Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting under 3.5 goals in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.Under 3.5:data

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Live broadcast of Rayo Vallecano – Barcelona watch La Liga match today April 26, what time is the live broadcast of the match Rayo Vallecano – Barcelona

Barcelona will play away with Rayo Vallecano in the 31st round of La Liga.

Sports.ru will conduct online text broadcast of the match. The beginning is at 23:00 Moscow time.

Okko will show the game live.

Rayo Vallecano – Barcelona

Date
April 26, 23.00, Campo de Vallecas
Rayo Vallecano –
Dimitrievski, Baliu, Lejeune, Catena, Fran Garcia, Palason, Garcia, Unai Lopez, Oscar Valentin, Trejo, Camello.
Barcelona –
ter Stegen, Kunde, Alonso, Araujo, Balde, de Jong, Pedri, Gavi, Rafinha, Ferran Torres, Lewandowski.

La Liga standings

La Liga statistics

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