Barcelona forced to settle for draw against Rayo Vallecano

Spending large amounts of money doesn’t always translate to success straight away. Barcelona were taught that lesson in their home debut against Rayo Vallecano.

The plucky opponents from Madrid earned their third positive result against the Catalans dating back to last season. While they might not have won this time, they did manage to keep the Blaugrana at bay.

Not even with the likes of Robert Lewandowski, Ousmane Dembele and Raphinha were Barcelona able to get one past goalkeeper Dimitrievski.

Barcelona tried and tried throughout the first half to get the opener. Aside from a couple of half chances, they never looked close to scoring. In fact, it was Rayo Vallecano who had the best chance of the opening 45 minutes.

Had it not been for Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Barcelona would have gone into the break trailing.

The second half followed the same script with the home side on the front foot trying to break the deadlock. But Rayo Vallecano were staunch when it came to defending and disrupted the flow of the game, wasting time in the process.

Barcelona had to settle for speculative efforts and shots from long range. A couple of those long range attempts did force Dimitrievski to make a couple of saves.

Ansu Fati and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang came on during the second half but were unable to get through the defense.

Barcelona ended up playing the game with 10 men after Sergio Busquets picked up a red card in the final minutes of regulation. He is set to miss Barcelona’s away trip to Real Sociedad.

A near sold out crowd at the Camp Nou were left frustrated as Barcelona could not score despite some of the new names in attack. Heading into the game with much anticipation, instead they left disappointed.

“I understand the disappointment, expectations are really high,” Xavi said. “We will have to analyze the game, improve and keep believing in the model of play. Rayo defended well. It was harder for us to create [chances] than usual. It’s a shame because we wanted to show the fans that we’re on a good path. It’s disappointing, but we ask for patience.”

Amid much speculation surrounding his future, Frenkie de Jong came on as a substitute. Out of all the changes Xavi made, the Dutchman looked the liveliest of the bunch, picking up the ball from deep and making runs toward the final third.

With Busquets missing the next match, it would not come as a surprise to see De Jong start in the base of midfield. The other option is Miralem Pjanic but it could prove to be too much of a risk against a team like La Real.

The other questions Xavi needs to answer is of the fullbacks. Ronald Araujo did a decent job but the fullbacks are an important part of the system the Catalans play and Araujo can’t deliver what they need. On the other side, Jordi Alba is not the player he once was and if he’s not providing much going forward, he’s a liability. It also wouldn’t come as a shock to see Sergiño Dest be brought back into the fold as well as Alejandro Balde who had an impressive preseason.

One game does not a season make but some of the issues from last season were all too evident. With plenty of new faces, Barcelona is going to need time for the players to gel. Time is what they have now but they need to get results in the process. Given the investment, the pressure is on to succeed. With  a trip away to La Real, things aren’t going to get easier.