By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: 17:58 EDT, 31 August 2025 | Updated: 17:59 EDT, 31 August 2025
BARCELONA, Spain (AP) - Lamine Yamal scored from the penalty spot but Barcelona needed goalkeeper Joan García to ensure it left Rayo Vallecano with a point after a 1-1 draw in the Spanish league on Sunday.
The defending champions were largely outplayed by the modest side from Madrid with its speed and ability to break Barcelona´s offside trap.
It was Barcelona´s first slip of the season after it started with a pair of wins at Mallorca and Levante.
Yamal got the penalty after he dribbled past a defender and was knocked down by Pep Chavarría in a foul that was fiercely protested by Rayo´s players and staff.
Yamal stepped up and fired in the 40th-minute spot kick, before celebrating by gesturing as if he were placing a crown on his head. It was the 18-year-old´s second goal of the campaign.
Rayo´s pressure and the quickness of Jorge de Frutos, Álvaro García and Isi Palazón repeatedly created space behind Barcelona´s high defensive line.
Barcelona's Lamine Yamal celebrates after scoring the opening goal from the penalty spot during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Rayo Vallecano and FC Barcelona at the Vallecas stadium in Madrid, Spain, Sunday, Aug. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
García made five key saves, including denying De Frutos and Andrei Ratiu one-on-one. But the former Espanyol goalie could do nothing to stop Fran Pérez from blasting in a volley off a corner kick when he was left completely unmarked at the far post in the 67th.
Fermín López played as a second-half substitute amid speculation that Chelsea wants to sign the Barcelona midfielder before the summer transfer window closes on Monday.
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Barcelona's goalkeeper Joan García makes a save from Rayo's Andrei Ratiu during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Rayo Vallecano and FC Barcelona at the Vallecas stadium in Madrid, Spain, Sunday, Aug. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
Barcelona's Lamine Yamal scores the opening goal from the penalty spot during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Rayo Vallecano and FC Barcelona at the Vallecas stadium in Madrid, Spain, Sunday, Aug. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
Barcelona's Lamine Yamal celebrates after scoring the opening goal from the penalty spot during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Rayo Vallecano and FC Barcelona at the Vallecas stadium in Madrid, Spain, Sunday, Aug. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
Barcelona's goalkeeper Joan García makes a save from Rayo's Andrei Ratiu during the Spanish La Liga soccer match between Rayo Vallecano and FC Barcelona at the Vallecas stadium in Madrid, Spain, Sunday, Aug. 31, 2025. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)