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Barcelona lost 1-0 at Vallecas in October but, before that, had won 14 consecutive matches against Rayo, scoring 58 goals in these games. Los Franjirrojos’ last win at Camp Nou was in 2000.
Barcelona to win and over 2.5 goals is 4/5.
Barcelona to win and both teams to score NO is 6/5.
Barcelona to win, over 2.5 goals and both teams to score NO is 15/4.
Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is 11/4 to break the deadlock and 8/13 to add to his tally of nine goals in 11 La Liga games.
Match preview
Can Barcelona tighten their grip on second place?
Before this, Barça’s season had started to unravel, losing back-to-back home games for the first time in 19 years.
First, the Blaugrana’s Europa League hopes had been shattered by Eintracht Frankfurt, going 3-0 down before, in vain, pulling it back to 3-2 in stoppage time.
Then, on Monday night, Cádiz caused a huge shock by winning 1-0 in Catalonia, thereby ending Barcelona’s 15-match unbeaten run in La Liga.
Nevertheless, Xavi’s side remain second, above Sevilla on head-to-head record, and two points clear of faltering Atlético Madrid.
While Real Madrid’s 15-point lead at the top of the table will prove insurmountable, Barça will still want a strong finish to a very up and down campaign.
As for Rayo Vallecano, belatedly to say the least, they’ve won a La Liga match in 2022.
On Thursday, Sergi Guardiola’s scruffy first half volley was enough to see los Franjirrojos beat Espanyol 1-0 at RCDE Stadium.
Before this, Andoni Iraola’s men had taken just four points from 13 matches since the turn of the year, not winning any of these fixtures.
In this time, los Vallecanos had slid all the way from fourth down to 14th in the table, and were getting dragged into the relegation picture.
Now though, Rayo are 14th, seven points clear of danger, and one more victory will guarantee a second successive season in the top-flight.
Having already beaten Barça at Campo de Fútbol de Vallecas this season, can they spring an even bigger surprise at Camp Nou?
Barcelona team news
Star man Pedri is out for the rest of the season and it’s so coincidence that Barça suffered back-to-back defeats last week without him.
So, Sergio Busquets, Frenkie de Jong and Gavi will continue as the midfield trio; Nico is the only viable alternative.
At the back, Ronald Araújo hobbled off on Thursday so is highly unlikely to feature here.
Thus, Eric García or Clément Lenglet, more likely the former, will partner Gerard Piqué.
38 year old Dani Alves is unlikely to start twice in four days so either Óscar Mingueza or Sergiño Dest will come in at right-back.
Up front, Ousmane Dembélé, Ferran Torres and Thursday’s goal-scorer Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang are the first choice trio.
But Memphis, who missed a penalty at Vallecas in October, or Adama Traoré could come in for this one.
Rayo Vallecano team news
Radamel Falcao has scored four goals in five appearances against Barcelona, including Rayo’s winner in October.
However, he won’t be adding to that as the Colombian veteran hasn’t featured since 26 February due to a thigh problem.
So Sergi Guardiola, who scored the winner across Catalonia on Thursday, will lead the line.
Stole Dimitrievski saved Memphis’ spot-kick when Rayo last faced Barça and is targeting back-to-back clean sheets for the first time since then.
La Liga table:
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