Barcelona vs Rayo Vallecano, La Liga: Final Score 3-0, Barça clinch second place with hard-fought win in home finale

Barcelona will officially finish the 2023-24 La Liga season as runners-up thanks to a hard-fought 3-0 victory against Rayo Vallecano in their home finale at the Montjuïc Olympic Stadium on Sunday evening. Barça scored early and went through quite a few scares for most of the night against a bold, attacking Rayo side, but two second half goals by Pedri were enough to seal the win and secure second place with a game to spare.

FIRST HALF

Barça made a perfect start to proceedings with a goal inside three minutes, thanks to a brilliant cross by Lamine Yamal and a great finish by Robert Lewandowski inside the box to settle the nerves and put the home team in control right from the start.

The first 15 minutes were played at a lightning-quick pace as Rayo were not interested in avoiding conceding a second and took initiative, sending plenty of bodies forward and creating real danger with set pieces, long balls and shots from distance. Marc-André ter Stegen made a couple of solid saves, and the away team showed they were very much still in the game.

The rhythm of the contest slowed down considerably for the rest of the period, however, as Barça took control of possession and made fewer mistakes on the ball, getting into their passing patterns and forcing Rayo to defend deeper inside their half. But the Catalans couldn’t manufacture any real chances, and wasted a few good attacks with poor decisions in the final third.

Florian Lejeune missed a wide-open header in the dying moments of the period in what was Rayo’s best chance, and that turned out to be one of the big highlights of a half that started fast but ended slow, and one that had Barça in front but still promised more action in the second half as the home team looked to confirm the victory.

SECOND HALF

Xavi Hernández made a change at halftime as Andreas Christensen replaced Sergi Roberto at the base of midfield, with the Blaugrana coach looking for more precision in the team’s passing to have better control of the game at the start of the final period.

The plan worked early on as Barça had all of the ball and Rayo had to defend very deep, but while the Blaugrana continuously found themselves in good positions in the final third they struggled to find the final pass to unlock the visitors’ defense, and Rayo offered a threat on the counter a couple of times to give Barça a warning that they needed a second goal to make sure of the win.

Xavi made two more changes looking to add more quality and creativity to the attack as Pedri and João Félix came off the bench at the hour mark. Ronald Araujo also came on in his return from injury to add some more strength to the backline, but Rayo were the team on top in the minutes following those substitutions as the visitors continued to create serious danger with quick counter-attacks and crosses into the box.

Barça’s lead was in serious jeopardy as we reached the final 20 minutes, but two moments of individual brilliance decided the game in favor of the home team: the first was a sensational solo run inside the box by João Félix, who dribbled past multiple defenders and had his shot saved but saw the rebound fall to Pedri who fired it home off the bar; the second came three minutes in the form of an outrageous long pass by Araujo, who played a spectacular ball over the top of the Rayo defense and gave Pedri time and space to control the ball and find the net for a second time to triple Barça’s lead and secure the win.

The two goals in quick successions were a brutal blow for Rayo, who lost all of their momentum and could no longer bother the Barça defense. The home team was able to cruise to the finish, and the final whistle came to end a much tougher night for the home team than the score suggests.

This is Xavi’s first win against Rayo, and the team from Vallecas came close in multiple occasions to extend their unbeaten run against the Barça boss. But a combination of Ter Stegen brilliance and a rare but welcome efficient night in front of goal for Pedri avoided a bad result and gave Barça the three points they were looking for.

Now the Blaugrana can go into the season finale away to Sevilla knowing they have guaranteed a second place finish and Xavi can give some promising youngsters and low-minute reserves a chance to play next week. This depressing season is thankfully about to end, but it will end in somewhat positive fashion with Barça finishing second and securing some extra prize money that they desperately needed.

Well done, boys!

Barcelona: Ter Stegen; Kounde, Cubarsí (Araujo 62’), Iñigo, Cancelo; Fermín (Pedri 62’), Roberto (Christensen 46’), Gündogan; Yamal, Lewandowski (Roque 79’), Raphinha (Félix 62’)

Goals: Lewandowski (3’), Pedri (72’, 75’)

Rayo Vallecano: Dimitrievski; Balliu, Mumin, Lejeune, Espino; Valentín (Crespo 62’); De Frutos (Ratiu 62’), Isi (López 79’), Ciss, García (Chavarría 76’); Camello (Falcao 79’)

Goals: None