In the Spanish "La Liga" championship, the fifth round of the 11th round of matches was played on Saturday evening.
In the capital city, Madrid, "Rayo Vallecano" hosted the champion "Barcelona", who humiliated "Real" in the last round. The Catalans did not have such easy matches here - "Rayo" only painfully conceded two goals at the very end of the match and allowed the opponents to achieve a dramatic victory with a score of 3:2.
The match started well for the guests from the capital of Catalonia - already in the 11th minute after a pass from Jordi Alba, the in-form Luis Suarez scored a great goal.
However, after the quick goal, "Barca" visibly relaxed and let the hosts feel the game. In the 35th minute, the score was equalized - Pozo unleashed a powerful shot from about 20 meters and the ball ended up in the net after hitting the goal construction.
In the second half, "Rayo" continued to show character. The hosts did not hesitate to press the guests who played without Lionel Messi, and in the 57th minute they celebrated a goal - Raul de Tomas corrected the shot into the net just moments after entering the field following a substitution.
Even with an advantage, "Rayo" did not think about defense - the hosts tried to punish the opponents again, but the Catalans made no more mistakes, and the hosts' batteries began to run out.
In the 87th minute, "Barca" returned to the game - after a well-delivered ball by Gerard Pique, Ousmane Dembele scored a great goal with his left foot to equalize the score, and shortly afterwards, the "blaugrana" felt the taste of blood and managed to extend their dramatic victory. After a pass from Sergi Roberto from the opponents' penalty area, L. Suarez, sliding forward, sent the ball into the net.
"Barca", playing quite flat matches, managed to extend their victory and gain a 4-point advantage over their nearest opponents.
Result:
"Rayo" 2 - 3 "Barcelona" 11' [1 - 0] L. Suarez 35' [1 - 1] Pozo 57' [2 - 1] A. Garcia 87' [2 - 2] O. Dembele 90' [2 - 3] L. Suarez
Standings:
