With an extraordinary 0.33 instantly house defeat, Barcelona is accidentally clearing the best way for Actual Madrid to clinch the Spanish league name.
Barcelona misplaced 1-0 to Rayo Vallecano on Sunday, marking the primary time it misplaced 3 in a row at house in all competitions in the similar season, and leaving chief Madrid only a level clear of profitable its moment league name in 3 seasons.
Madrid can have its first likelihood of lifting the trophy Saturday when it hosts Espanyol. Madrid is 15 issues forward of second-place Barcelona with 5 rounds to head. The Catalan membership has the easier head-to-head tiebreaker.
Lovers on the Camp Nou stadium booed the workforce after the overall whistle.
“Now we have been suffering at house,” Barcelona captain Sergio Busquets mentioned. “We’ve been conceding targets early after which it turns into tough to get better. We’re in a nasty dynamic at the moment.”
Barcelona had received seven instantly house fits within the league in opposition to Rayo, which scored the winner with a shot through Alvaro Garcia after a protracted move into the realm within the 7th minute.
Barcelona pressed ahead the remainder of the fit however couldn’t capitalize on its a number of scoring probabilities.
The loss left Barcelona tied on issues with third-place Sevilla and simplest two issues forward of Atletico Madrid within the ultimate Champions League spot. Securing moment position may be necessary because it promises a spot within the profitable Spanish Tremendous Cup in Saudi Arabia.
“We’re in a tricky scenario now,” Barcelona trainer Xavi Hernandez mentioned. “We’re nonetheless within the Champions League qualification zone, however we now have been making it tough on ourselves.”
Barcelona received at Actual Sociedad on Thursday however used to be coming off defeats in opposition to Cadiz within the league and Eintracht Frankfurt within the Europa League. It hadn’t misplaced two in a row at house since 2003, and had misplaced 3 instantly simplest as soon as, between the 1997-98 and 1998-99 seasons.
It used to be the second one instantly win for Rayo after enduring a 13-game winless streak within the league. The Madrid membership moved from fifteenth to eleventh with the victory, its moment this season in opposition to Barcelona. Rayo’s win on Thursday additionally got here within the town of Barcelona, at Espanyol.
Simplest Bayern Munich had crushed Barcelona two times this season, within the team degree of the Champions League.
The end result almost secured Rayo a place within the first department subsequent season.
The fit used to be postponed from January. No different league video games had been performed this weekend. Actual Betis defeated Valencia on consequences on Saturday to win the Copa del Rey.