FC Barcelona will resume their La Liga campaign this coming Saturday with a match against Rayo Vallecano. There will both be optimism and pessimism in the Barcelona dressing room in this match, as players like Frenkie de Jong will finally return from injury, but the squad will be missing Gavi, whose ACL tear last Sunday will keep him out for the rest of the season.
The game against Rayo Vallecano will also be difficult for Xavi because of his previous record facing this opponent. As SPORT has noted, this upcoming match will be Xavi’s fourth against Rayo Vallecano as a Barcelona manager, but the former midfielder has not been able to get even a single victory against the Madrid side.
The last time that Barcelona came out with a victory against Rayo Vallecano on their turf was in the 2018-19 season, when Ernesto Valverde was still on the Barcelona bench, and Luis Suarez and Ousmane Dembele scored to give the Catalans a 3-2 victory.
Rayo spent the ensuing two seasons in the Segunda Division, and since then, Barcelona have visited Rayo two times and returned both times without any points.
Barcelona have also been unable to get a victory over Rayo at their own stadium as well, and the last time this happened was also in the 2018-19 season. In that season, Barcelona beat Vallecano 3-1, with goals from Pique, Suarez, and Messi.
Since Rayo’s return to the top flight, Barcelona have only had three defeats and one draw against them. Their defeat to Rayo on matchday 31 last season could have cost Barcelona dearly, as it made space for Real Madrid to return to the title race, but the Merengues were unable to take advantage of this opportunity.
Now, Rayo Vallecano remains the only team that Xavi has not beaten after having faced them at least three times. This time, the Catalans have a minimal margin for error, and will have to give their best to ensure the team breaks its duck against Rayo, and also to get back to good form in this decisive stretch of the season.
