Barcelona: Barcelona FC start the 2022-23 season of La Liga with a disappointing 0-0 draw against Rayo Vallecano. Though the Blaugrana were on the better side of the game, they created several big chances. However they could not find the back of the net and had to settle for a point against Vallecano that put up an excellent fight.
First Half
Barcelona had a slow start to the game as Rayo put up intense, physical pressing all over the pitch. Rayo managed to constantly stop the host’s momentum and never let the home team get into a rhythm.
As time went on, Pedri used his skills to win individual duels and find his teammates in dangerous positions. Attacking trio of Ousmane Dembélé, Raphinha and Robert Lewandowski got more and more involved as Barcelona started creating dangerous chances.
A valiant and stubborn Rayo side proved their worth and went 45 minutes without conceding.
FINAL #BarçaRayo 0-0
¡El @RayoVallecano saca un gran punto del Spotify Camp Nou! ⚡⚡#KickOffLaLigaSantander pic.twitter.com/4GqCn4SIaY
— LaLiga (@LaLiga) August 13, 2022
Second Half
At the start of the second half, Rayo missed a chance by Camello. It was the only dangerous attack from the visitors in the final period. The rest of the half was dominated by Barcelona, who ramped up the intensity and started to bother the visitors with constant crosses and shots. As we reached the final 10 minutes, there were still no goals and desperation started to set in for Barcelona.
Lewandowski went near to scor a brilliant winner and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang almost found the net with his first touch off the bench. However, Rayo continued to survive in the dying moments. Franck Kessie even found the back of the net in the 88th minute, but the goal was correctly ruled out for offside.
This is certainly not the best way to start the season and there will be huge questions raised.
Starting fresh off with winning the UEFA Super Cup 2022, Real Madrid will kick start their La Liga 2022-23 campaign today with newly promoted side Almeria. Defending champions Real Madrid will give all in the field against Almeria tonight. Almeria had a mixed bag sort of pre-season with wins over Velez, San Fernando CD, and FC Cartagena, but they also tasted defeats versus Cordoba and Granada.
Madrid will fight to retain their title while Almeria looks uo to stay up in the La Liga rather than getting relegated.
