Barcelona fail to kill off La Liga title race in 2-1 defeat to Rayo Vallecano

Barcelona missed out on the opportunity to end the La Liga title race following their 2-1 defeat to Rayo Vallecano. In the process, they became only the second team to score two goals against Barcelona in the league after Real Madrid. 

It was an inspired performance from the home team in front of a raucous crowd, and they were able to pull off a massive upset victory. They outplayed the visitors in the opening half an hour, and were able to find the opening goal after forcing a turnover in possession. 

Rayo Vallecano defeat Barcelona to further continue La Liga title race 

The Blaugrana eventually grew into the game and almost found the equaliser in the first half through Robert Lewandowski. But, the goal was ruled out for offside by VAR. 

Early on in the second half, Real Madrid-bound Fran Garcia scored an impressive solo goal from left-back to make it 2-0. The youngster has been very highly rated, and showed what all the hype is about with his remarkable goal against one of the biggest clubs in Spain. 

Lewandowski was eventually able to get his goal late in the game. But, it did not shake Rayo, who held onto their one-goal lead until the end to secure all three points. 

Xavi’s men are still comfortable at the top of the La Liga table with an 11 point lead. And Real Madrid must be cursing themselves over their 4-1 defeat to Girona. A win in that game would have narrowed the points gap at the top to eight. But even then, it would have been a big ask to overtake them at this stage of the season.