After two and a half months, Barcelona is once again the leader in La Liga at the expense of Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid, writes sportal.bg. This became a fact after a difficult 1-0 home win over Rayo Vallecano in the final match of the 24th round.
Robert Lewandowski scored the only goal from a penalty kick in the 28th minute. This was enough for the Catalans to equalize on points with the current leader in the face of Real, but the better goal difference gives them an advantage.
In line with what has been happening recently, this match was not without debatable referee decisions. Two minutes before the break, Rayo's team scored a goal, but it was disallowed due to offside. De Frutos, who played the ball, was not in one, but according to the main referee Mario Melero Lopez, the problematic position of Nteka was. The central striker of the guests was in a passive offside, but then blocked Barca defender Inigo Martinez with his body, which slowed him down in his attempt to prevent De Frutos from shooting.
The referees also played a major role in Lewandowski's goal. At first, the main referee did not see a violation, but the VAR suggested to him that there was actually a hold in the penalty area. However, something similar happened in front of Szczesny's goal earlier in the match, when Hector Fort grabbed a player from the capital by the shirt, but then nothing happened. Separately, Pau Kubarsi did something similar at one point, and then Dani Olmo and Lamine Yamal claimed fouls against them.
Otherwise, the hosts squandered a number of clear chances and almost regretted it, because seconds after the end of regular time, the guests missed a 100 percent chance through De Frutos.
Hansi Flick left Jules Kunde among the reserves, replacing him with teenager Hector Fort for one of his rare appearances. Lamin Yamal, on the other hand, recorded his 100th professional football match.
It took the hosts only four minutes to create a clear chance, but Lewandowski missed it, shooting with his head wide.
In the 14th minute, Hector Fort blatantly held Rayo's Mumin's shirt with his hand when he crossed from a corner kick, but nothing followed regarding a possible penalty for the guests.
Rafinha came closest to scoring for Barca in the 20th minute, when he shot diagonally with his left foot, but the ball flew out of bounds. Three minutes later, the Brazilian was in a very good position again and this time hit the goal. The Rayo goalkeeper saved, and in the added time Lewandowski failed to intercept.
Meanwhile, a situation for a possible penalty also came up in the Rayo Vallecano penalty area after a duel between Cis and Inigo Martinez. After consulting with VAR and reviewing a replay of the controversial moment, the chief referee Mario Melero pointed to the penalty spot. Lewandowski took charge of the execution and with the help of the post brought the hosts ahead - 1:0, which happened in the 28th minute.
Barcelona could have scored a second goal just two minutes later, but two excellent saves by goalkeeper Battaglia left the score unchanged.
Even after that, the team from Sofia played and almost equalized in the 37th minute. Then, within about a second, Wojciech Szczesny blocked a shot by Nteka and Alvaro Garcia.
Two minutes before the break, the referees made a key decision not to allow a goal by De Frutos, even though the player was not offside.
Then in added time, a ricochet after a cross from the left almost led to a goal in favor of Rayo, but here too the Catalans escaped.
Barcelona started the second half strongly and created several dangerous attacks, in which Leva and Yamal were not accurate. Rayo, however, also looked at Szczesny's goal, and in the 67th minute the Pole distinguished himself again with a save.
Dani Olmo appeared on the field, who in the 71st minute escaped from a Rayo player, but was not able to finish with a shot. Rafinha again attacked, but Battaglia blocked. The goalkeeper's intervention against Olmo also involved a touch on the attacking player's feet.
A minute later, Rafinha was in position again - this time alone against the goalkeeper - but shot wide.
Rayo's team kept their strength for the end and just as regular time expired, De Frutos missed an equalizer with a header from several meters.
After this match, Barça returns to a tight schedule, playing seven matches next month, including two round of 16 matches in the Champions League and two against Atletico Madrid.