The Catalans gave in in the 7th minute on a goal from Alvaro Garcia, who deceived Marc-André Ter Stegen from the right after getting rid of the marking of Sergino Dest, and suffered their third defeat at home in ten days, after the elimination of the Europa League conceded against Eintracht Frankfurt (3-2) and the 1-0 loss against Cadiz in La Liga.

Real Madrid will thus have a chance to celebrate their 35th Spanish league title on their home ground on Saturday (4:15 p.m.), in the event of a victory or a draw against Espanyol Barcelona at the Bernabéu.

There is only one impossible scenario that could lead to Barça preventing Real from claiming the Spanish crown: it would require the Catalan club to win their remaining five league matches, and Real lose them all.

Xavi tried everything

This rout which looks like the last three matches for Xavi's men.

Voluntary but imprecise against the cages, the Blaugranas have lost their offensive efficiency which has wreaked havoc since the start of 2022.

And if they did well at Anoeta on Thursday against Real Sociedad (1-0), the face of the match was much the same.

Sunday at Camp Nou, Xavi tried everything to get back to the score: he used all his offensive elements, with the entries into play of Memphis Depay and Nico on the hour mark, and those of Luuk de Jong and Adama Traoré in the 71st, finishing the match with four attackers... but nothing happened.

Gavi hit the ridge well just before the break (43rd), Jordi Alba grazed the crossbar in the 56th, and Ousmane Dembélé, alone against the empty cage in the 90th + 11, saw his shot blocked.

Benches see red

And the end of the match, very tense, was marked by two red cards addressed to the benches of Rayo and Barça.

The Catalan management notably protested virulently on a possible penalty on Gavi not whistled in the 90th.

This prestigious success revives the Rayo, already perked up by their 1-0 victory Thursday against Espanyol.

After a great start to the season, the people of Madrid had not won a single La Liga match since December 18, a disastrous record of nine defeats and five draws in 14 matches!

Conversely, this new rout will begin to seriously worry Xavi: if the title has moved away for Barça, he still has a place in the top 4 to secure, on pain of missing the next edition of the League of champions.

© 2022 AFP