Barcelona vs Rayo Vallecano Preview

The fight for La Liga supremacy continues this weekend with Barcelona hosting Rayo Vallecano in the last game of round 24.

Barca come into this tie looking to continue their impressive run of form. Since suffering a mid-season blip around late December, the hosts have enjoyed a remarkable return in all competitions going on an unbeaten run in all their games since the turn of the year (W9, D2).

That has corresponded with their strong momentum in the La Liga title race, with a recent 4-1 thrashing of Sevilla putting them within two points of the league leaders. That win was their third win in a row and also the eighth time they’ve scored 4+ goals in the league this season.

However, Barcelona face a challenge to make it four wins in a row against Rayo Vallecano as they failed to win two of their last three home H2Hs (D1, L1). They did manage to win the reverse fixture 2-1 back in August, so this game presents them with a chance to win three successive H2Hs for the first time since January 2021.

Rayo Vallecano has also enjoyed a perfect start to the new year with no team picking up more than their league-high 13 points from their five matches so far (W4, D1). Their club-record unbeaten run in the top-flight now stands at nine matches (W5, D4), with that sequence including three successive victories -Rayo last managed four in a row in La Liga back in January 2013.

The visitors remain underdogs to repeat the act against one of the division’s best sides but can take encouragement from a five-game unbeaten run on their league travels (W2, D3). Each of those matches saw them score exactly once.

They may need more to emerge victorious here as they have managed just one clean sheet in 11 previous games against sides starting this round in the top half of the table (W3, D5, L3).

Other fixtures taking place this week in the Spanish Primera Liga:

Spanish Primera Liga Table