Barcelona celebrate Cesc Fabregas's late goal at Rayo Vallecano (Getty Images)
It was a windy and chilly day yesterday when Barcelona brought their show to Madrid, not to face Real or even Atletico, but going up against Rayo Vallecano at Estadio Teresa Rivero. Prior to the match, Rayo's manager Francisco Jemez had indicated that his side intended to go toe to toe with Barca, and they pretty much did, holding their ground until late in the second half.
It really took Barca a few minutes to even get a foothold in the match, and Rayo tried desperately to take advantage and hit them early. Unfortunately for them, they couldn't really get their sights on goal, and rarely tested Victor Valdes and his somewhat makeshift Barca back line. Jose Carlos got a grand look after a corner in the very first minute, but screwed his shot wide of the goal. He really should have done better. He would try his luck again, dialing up a shot in the 17th minute but again failed to hit the target. Despite the Rayo pressure, Barcelona really didn't look like they were going to break.
Slowly Barca got their feet under them and finally made Rayo pay for their missed opportunities in the 20th minute. Cesc Fabregas picked out David Villa, who was making a superb late run into the penalty area. Villa cleanly one touched the ball past the Rayo 'keeper and into the net to make it 0-1 to Barcelona.
Rayo responded pretty well though, and had a great chance to equalize the match prior to halftime. In the 44th minute Javi Fuego dumped a ball over the top of the Barca defense that dropped to Andrija Delibasic in the area. The Serb got his shot away, and on target, but Valdes was up to the task, corralling it and preserving his team's 0-1 lead going into the interval.
Barcelona came out in the second half and immediately put a little more daylight between themselves and the home side. In the 48th minute Lionel Messi took a ball from Martin Montoya and smacked it into the top corner of the goal to make it 0-2 to Barcelona.
Rayo still didn't go away though, and really deserved a lot of credit for hanging in the match as long as they did. The continued to create chances and half chances, but still really could not get their shots on frame. In the 78th minute Sergio Rodri got a great look at goal off of a set piece, as the ball fell to him just on the side of the six. However once again he failed to test the 'keeper and the home side failed to cut into the lead.
That was the last opening Barca would need as they would add three more goals over the course of the final twelve minutes. In the 78th Jordi Alba found Xavi in the center of the box, and he promptly slotted home Barca's third. Cesc Fabregas volleyed in a cross from Pedro to make it 0-4 in the 80th, and Messi finished the night with a clinical finish from a tough angle to make it 0-5 at full time.
In the end, Rayo probably didn't deserve to get put to the sword quite so badly, but their missed opportunities came back to haunt them as they failed to capitalize on Barca's vulnerable back line. It wasn't always vintage Barcelona, but it was more than enough.
