Barcelona may be on the course for the title, but they are doing hard work out of it. On Wednesday night, they travelled to face plucky minnows Rayo Vallecano and succumbed to a surprising 2-1 defeat.Going into the game, the club from the Madrid suburb of Vallecas had just one victory in their last ten La Liga games. You would think that league leaders and soon-to-become champions would stroll through Estadio de Vallecas. But Barcelona don’t look all that convincing in recent weeks, and Rayo thrives on upsetting the rich and great. If you feel superior to others, that Vallecas is the place where you’ll bite the dust.⚡ Temporada 2021-2022:🆚 Rayo Vallecano 1-0 FC Barcelona.🆚 FC Barcelona 0-1 Rayo Vallecano.⚡ Temporada 2022-2023:🆚 FC Barcelona 0-0 Rayo Vallecano.🆚 Rayo Vallecano 2-1 FC Barcelona.✊🏽 Ha vuelto el MATAGIGANTES. pic.twitter.com/2UJeuDu9mB— Raúl González (@RaulGlezP_) April 26, 2023 Xavi’s side have won just one of their last four league matches — a narrow triumph over Atletico Madrid on Sunday — as they limp towards the finish line and a first title since 2019. Andoni Iraola’s men looked to continue their six-game unbeaten home run against the Catalans and were set on the road to victory by Alvaro Garcia, who beat Marc-Andre Ter Stegen with a darting shot 20 minutes into the game.Real Madrid’s shock 4-2 defeat to Girona on Tuesday gave the Blaugrana the opportunity to extend their lead at the summit to 14 points with just seven games remaining, but although only a matter of millimetres denied the offside Robert Lewandowski an equaliser shortly before the break, Xavi’s men were clearly off the pace in the opening period.GOAL | Rayo Vallecano 2-0 Barcelona | Francisco Garciapic.twitter.com/ecnugr6CpW— VAR Tático (@vartatico) April 26, 2023 Frenkie De Jong made a mess out of a ball in the second half, allowing Fran Garcia to snatch possession and cooly double the lead. The stadium was already loud, but the second goal made Rayo’s loyal supporters, Buccaneers, go absolutely nuts.Barca rallied to avoid defeat, but all they could do was half the deficit through Lewandowski, who finally ended his goalscoring drought. However, it proved too little, too late, as Rayo celebrated three highly unlikely points at their place.GOAL | Rayo Vallecano 2-1 Barcelona | Lewandowski pic.twitter.com/JcvWJuaA4c— VAR Tático (@vartatico) April 26, 2023 With Barcelona and Real Madrid both losing, Atletico Madrid took advantage and approached Real to just two points. The Rojiblancos came from behind to claim an easy 3-1 win over Real Mallorca at their Metropolitano stadium on the day they celebrated the 120th anniversary of the club. For this occasion, Atleti wore half-and-half blue-white kits, giving the nod to the club’s original colours. It was only later that they adopted the now-famous red and white stripes.LA LIGA – MATCHDAY 31TuesdayGirona – Real Madrid 4-2 (2-1)/Castellanos 12, 24, 46, 62 – Vinicius 34, Vazquez 85/Cadiz – Osasuna 0-1 (0-0)/Garcia 62/Betis – Sociedad 0-0WednesdayAtletico Madrid – Mallorca 3-1 (1-1)/De Paul 45+2, Morata 47, Carrasco 77 – Nastasic 20/Getafe – Almeria 1-2 (0-1)/Mayoral 71 – Suarez 7, 58/Celta Vigo – Elche 1-0 (0-0)/Aidoo 90/Rayo Vallecano – Barcelona 2-1 (1-0)/A Garcia 19, F Garcia 53 – Lewandowski 83/Thursday20.30: (1.80) Valencia (3.50) Valladolid (4.70)20.30: (1.65) Villareal (4.00) Espanyol (6.00)23.00: (1.90) Ath.Bilbao (3.60) Sevilla (4.50)***odds are subject to change
