Barcelona’s La Liga season began tonight in front of a nearly sold-out Camp Nou against Rayo Vallecano. Robert Lewandowski, Raphinha,
and Andreas Christensen, three recent additions, made their official debuts.
However, the first half was mostly uneventful. There weren’t many opportunities separating the two teams,
excluding some shady refereeing (welcome back, La Liga).
Raphinha and Ousmane Dembele made some outrageous attempts,
and Lewandowski’s presence in the box was almost completely negated.
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Though the second half held considerably greater promise,
Xavi’s team could only manage a draw in the end.
6 Ousmane Dembele
Dembele’s performance tonight was not the best,
much like Raphinha’s. He found it difficult to get around Rayo’s fullback, and none of his passes were successful.
Raphinha and Dembele were unable to locate Lewandowski,
so Rayo did well to keep an almost constant eye on him in the box. In any other league,
the Pole may have been awarded a penalty,
but not with the La Liga officials.
In their opening La Liga match,
Barcelona was held to a 0-0 draw by Rayo Vallecano and had captain Sergio Busquets sent off late in the game.
At the Camp Nou,
the Catalans had the majority of the possession and 21 shots on goal, but they were unable to break the tie.
Among the close-season additions made by Barca manager Xavi were defender Andreas Christensen, winger Raphinha,
and striker Robert Lewandowski,
who could only play after registering with the league late on Friday.
Before being able to confirm players like former Bayern Munich attacker Lewandowski in their team for the upcoming season,
the five-time Champions League champions had to adhere to La Liga’s stringent financial regulations.
Lewandowski’s competitive debut was marred by his being denied a goal as the hosts dominated the first 30 minutes.
After receiving a feed from Ousmane Dembele,
the Poland striker was deemed to be offside, and his skillfully chipped goal was subsequently ruled out.
With 10 minutes left in the half, Pedri nearly broke the score,
but his curling effort sailed past the post as rain fell at the Camp Nou in temperatures of 26 degrees Celsius (79 degrees Fahrenheit).
Despite Rayo’s dominance in the first half,
Marc ter Stegen made sure the score remained level at halftime with a superb save to deny Alvaro Garcia of Rayo.
In the first ten minutes of the second half, Barca continued to attack the Rayo defence but were unable to get past goalkeeper Stole Dimitrievski,
who was engaged in two significant clashes on his line.
Frenkie de Jong replaced Gavi with 30 minutes remaining,
despite the fact that the Netherlands midfielder had been rumoured to be leaving Catalunya to help the club pay off its debt,
which had previously compelled Lionel Messi to leave.
Andoni Iraola, Xavi’s Rayo rival,
also made substitutions in the final 30 minutes, giving Radamel Falcao of Colombia his professional debut.
Lewandowski and De Jong combined with nine minutes remaining,
but the 33-year-strike old’s barely cleared the crossbar.
Seven minutes later, midfielder Franck Kessie, who joined Barca from AC Milan,
was offside before beating Dimitrievski, preventing another summer addition for Barca from scoring.
As a result of club captain Busquets’ red card for elbowing Falcao in the fourth of eight injury time minutes,
Xavi’s team finished the game with 10 men.
Falcao thought he had scored the winning goal to give Rayo their third straight victory over the Catalans less than 60 seconds later,
but the goal was disallowed for offside,
allowing the visitors to hold on for the point.
On just his eighth La Liga outing,
21-year-old winger Alex Baena scored twice to help Villarreal defeat Real Valladolid 3-0 earlier.
Franck Kessie, a midfielder who joined from AC Milan,
was offside before beating Dimitrievski seven minutes later,
preventing another summer signing for Barca from scoring.
In the fourth of eight minutes of added time,
club captain Busquets was sent off for elbowing Falcao,
and Xavi’s team finished the match with 10 men.
In less than 60 seconds after that,
Falcao appeared to have scored the game-winning goal to give Rayo their third straight victory over the Catalans,
but the goal was disallowed for offside,
allowing the visitors to hold on for the point.
Barcelona had a disastrous La Liga debut as Rayo Vallecano held them to a scoreless draw at Camp Nou.
The home attendance reached 80,000 for a non-El Clasico game for the first time in years,
but they departed the stadium with a bad taste in their mouths.
Even though the game was quite difficult,
Barça’s attacking play tonight was absolutely terrible. Raphinha and Robert Lewandowski both made forgettable debuts,
while Ousmane Dembele had trouble producing anything of note.
Rayo Vallecano held Barcelona to a scoreless draw at the Camp Nou to give them a disastrous La Liga debut. For the first time in a long time,
the home attendance for a non-El Clasico game reached 80,000,
but they departed the stadium with a bad taste in their mouths.
Despite how difficult the game was,
Barça’s attacking play tonight was especially bad. Ousmane Dembele struggled to produce anything significant,
while Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha also had forgettable debuts.
Barcelona‘s first La Liga encounter ended in disappointment as Rayo Vallecano managed to hold on for a scoreless draw.
One of the summertime additions who was making his debut was Robert Lewandowski,
but he was unable to break the tie.
The Poland forward missed the finest opportunity to score after the interval and was called for offside with a first-half attempt.
While Barca midfielder Sergio Busquets was dismissed in stoppage time for receiving a second yellow card,
Vallecano’s Sergio Camello came close to scoring the game’s winning goal.
Only 24 hours before the game,
four of their new additions had been registered to participate, which gave fans at the Nou Camp reason for excitement.
Due to La Liga financial rules,
Barca had been unable to sign new players. However, by using a number of “economic levers,”
they were able to free up financing,
allowing Lewandowski,
Andreas Christensen,
and Raphinha to start this game while Franck Kessie was placed on the bench.
Over the course of the game, the hosts had 21 shots compared to Vallecano’s four. The guests stood steadfast in defence as emotions grew.
For the first time in eight years,
Lewandowski, who cost £42.6 million to be acquired from Bayern Munich,
missed his finest opportunity to score after the break when he twisted his defender and shot wide.
In the opening game of the 2022–23 La Liga season against Rayo Vallecano at Camp Nou,
FC Barcelona could only manage a 0-0 draw despite all of its financial tricks,
budgetary gymnastics, and sales of its media assets.
Given the financial difficulties the team has been experiencing this summer,
four of their five new additions were only formally registered and available for selection 24 hours before the season began. However,
despite the presence of Franck Kessie,
Andreas Christensen, Raphinha, Robert Lewandowski,
and others, they were unable to make a breakthrough. Since the start of last season, Barcelona has failed to score in three straight games against Rayo.
