Barça takes the silver. Although until recently there were doubts about it
Grigory Telingater May 19, 2024, 22:25 Moscow time Audio version: Your browser does not support the audio element.
Pedri has a double and Lewandowski adds his 18th goal in the championship.
Now it can be officially said: Barça becomes second in the current Spanish Championship. Now Girona does not even have a mathematical chance of overtaking its neighbors (both in the table and geographically). Xavi’s team beat Rayo Vallecano at home and is four points ahead of the rest of the season.
The locals opened the scoring in the third minute. Lamin Yamal moved away from his opponent in a false move, then repeated the same technique and threw it at Robert Lewandowski with an elegant paddle. The Pole took the ball with his chest and immediately shot from a lethal position, with no chance for the goalkeeper.
Barcelona – Rayo Vallecano
Photo: David Ramos/Getty Images
After that, the game went fairly calmly. The hosts only allowed one truly dangerous moment near their goal in the first half. Paté Ciss tried to shoot over the Barça goalkeeper, but it slightly deflected the goal. On the other hand, the Catalans received three yellow cards before the break (Yamal, Rafinha and Kubarsi), it cannot be said that the match was easy.
In the 40th minute, Barcelona was close to scoring the second goal. Raphinha took the corner and Sergi Roberto shot into the near corner from a tight angle, but hit the post. In the second half the midfielder did not appear (although it was hardly due to this error): Andreas Christensen appeared on the field.
Barcelona – Rayo Vallecano
Photo: David Ramos/Getty Images
Barça tried to lull the rival to sleep and succeeded for much of the game. It is true that in the 57th minute the guests launched a counterattack and Álvaro García was close to equalizing the score, but was saved by Marc-André ter Stegen. In the 70th minute, he saved a dangerous shot from Isi Palazón.
Given this, Barça decided to finish off the rival rather than risk. Félix showed great dribbling in the other’s area, he beat two defenders, but could not score. The ball bounced to Pedri and he crashed it into the goal. And after a couple of minutes he already scored a double. And again the goal was scored by the players who came on as substitutes. Ronald Araujo cut a deep pass and Pedri positioned his body (yes, it happens) and shot accurately on goal.
Barcelona – Rayo Vallecano
Photo: David Ramos/Getty Images
At that moment the fate of second place in the championship was decided. Now the main intrigue for Barcelona is whether Xavi will remain at the Club next season. Apparently everything will be decided soon. Well, as for Rayo, despite the defeat, the team retained its place in the league, since in a parallel match Cádiz lost points and was eliminated along with Granada and Almería.
Now it’s fun to remember this:
Ancelotti’s return to Real Madrid was considered a mistake. The club didn’t even take it into account.
