• This is how we live it

The international break has not pulled Barcelona out of the rut. The Blaugrana, who had just lost to Shakhtar in the Champions League and a resounding victory against Alavés in Montjuic, returned to the league competition after international trips with the same strange sensations as two weeks ago. He visited Vallecas and suffered, as almost all the teams that stop in the Madrid neighbourhood suffer and as the Barça team has suffered for years. They haven't won in La Liga at Vallecas since 2018. It was a Barça from less to more and a Rayo from more to less, resulting in a draw that leaves Xavi's team behind Girona and Real Madrid.

The Catalan team started without Ter Stegen, Koundé, Araújo, Gundogan and Joao Félix in rotations, some of them forced, which left the team in the hands and feet of Frenkie De Jong and Pedri. Two brilliant minds whose bodies, and their injuries, have disrupted the start of the season. If they don't flow, neither does Barça, and in Vallecas it showed.

Rayo, impulsive and vertical as their DNA says, ran roughshod over Barça in the first half. He had more ideas and more intensity while his opponent was still thinking about what was going on. Barça amassed possession without danger, losing too many balls in dangerous areas and allowing Rayo to enhance what they enjoy most: counter-attacks. With De Frutos, Isi and Camello, Francisco's men were able to take the lead in the opening minutes. First with a shot by Isi Palazón that Iñaki Peña, who replaced the injured Ter Stegen, did not catch decisively and De Frutos was about to arrive.

The home side pressed the ball out of the box, especially De Jong and Oriol Romeu, who was very irregular as a pivot. A loss by the Dutchman in his own area was almost taken advantage of by Valentín, who finished timidly against Peña.

After the electric start of the Vallecanos, the match entered a very rough area. Too many fouls, too many stoppages and too few chances. At Barça, only Lamine Yamal's dribbling gave air to an overly static attack, with Pedri somewhat lost in the attacking midfield and Ferran and Lewandowski not appearing.

In the 38th minute, Rayo were rewarded for their efforts with a great goal from Unai López. Trejo volleyed in from the edge of the area, hitting the ball off a defender and going wide of the danger zone, but Unai, first-time, dared to launch a missile towards Peña's goal while he was still getting up from the inertia after Trejo's shot. The ball went in grazing the goalkeeper's left post to the madness of Vallecas, who did not believe it.

Barça called for Camello offside at the start of the play and on Unai's shot, arguing that Peña's vision bothered him, but after the VAR review, Munuera Montero confirmed the 1-0.

Before the interval, Rayo came close to making it 2-0 with a run by De Frutos and a back pass that was miraculously deflected by Baldé as Camello was preparing to score.

The time in the dressing room changed Barça. After ten minutes, Xavi withdrew Ferran and Romeu and brought on Joao Felix and Gundogan, something his team appreciated. De Jong was positioned at the heart of the midfield and under his direction the game leaned towards Dimitrievski's goal, Cancelo and Balde found gaps towards the byline and through Gundogan, De Jong, Joao and Pedri they created play endlessly, although not too many clear chances. The attack improved, but lacked ideas at the end against a Rayo well planted in defense.

Raphinha's introduction further strengthened Barça's dominance and the Brazilian came close to equalising, but his shot from the edge of the area hit the goalkeeper's left post. The small Barça siege was fruitless.

In the 81st minute, Inigo Martinez saw the gap behind the home defence and sent a perfect pass to Balde, who reached the byline and dropped back for Lewandowski. It looked like a goal from the Pole, but replay confirmed Lejeune's own goal.

It was a reward for the good final minutes of a Barça from less to more that also asked for a penalty from Espino to Raphinha, and a blow for a Rayo that suffered from fatigue in the last stretch of the duel. Xavi's men remain in third place, one point behind Madrid and three behind Girona, both with a game in hand.