Barcelona will head to Campo de Futbol de Vallecas to tackle Rayo Vallecano in gameweek three of the 2025-26 La Liga campaign, with the Catalan outfit looking to post their third victory of the season.
The reigning champions are second in the La Liga table, picking up maximum points from their first two games, while Rayo are in eighth spot, claiming three points from their opening two matches.
Match preview
Rayo will enter this match off the back of a 4-0 win over Neman in the second leg of their Conference League playoff on Thursday night, which gave them a 5-0 aggregate success and secured a spot in the league phase of the tournament.
Los Franjirrojos will therefore play in Europe for just the second time in their history, and it will be fascinating to see what the talented outfit, who have spent the majority of their history in the Segunda Division, can achieve this season.
Inigo Perez's side were eighth in La Liga last season, representing their joint-best finish at this level, and it has been a solid start to this campaign, picking up three points from their first two matches to occupy eighth.
Rayo opened their La Liga campaign with a 3-1 victory over Girona, before suffering a 1-0 loss away to Athletic Bilbao, but there were plenty of positives to take from the clash at San Mames.
The capital side have lost their last three La Liga games against Barcelona, including a 2-1 reverse in the corresponding game last term, but they were actually unbeaten against Barcelona across five league matches between October 2021 and November 2023.
Inigo Perez of Rayo Vallecano
Barcelona, meanwhile, were given a real scare by Levante in La Liga last weekend, with a disastrous first half seeing them trail 2-0, with Ivan Romero and Jose Luis Morales scoring for the promoted outfit.
However, Hansi Flick's side showed character to turn the game around in the second period, scoring through Pedri and Ferran Torres to make it 2-2, before an own goal from Unai Elgezabal late on secured the win for the champions.
Barcelona opened their season with a 3-0 success over Mallorca, meanwhile, so six goals have been registered in their first two matches, with their incredible attack hitting the ground running early in the campaign.
That said, there are concerns surrounding Barcelona's defensive qualities, and it will be fascinating to see whether a player is added in that area of the field before this summer's transfer window closes for business.
Barcelona are second in the La Liga table on six points from two matches, and they will be fully expecting to put another win on the board before the September international fixtures halt the campaign.
Rayo Vallecano La Liga form:
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Rayo Vallecano form (all competitions):
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Barcelona La Liga form:
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Team News
Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen on September 19, 2024
Rayo will be missing Abdul Mumin and Nobel Mendy on Sunday due to injury problems, but the home side are otherwise in strong shape, with no fresh issues reported from Thursday's European contest.
There will be changes from the side that took to the field for the clash with Neman on Thursday, including a spot in the side for Alvaro Garcia, who netted twice off the bench in that contest.
Jorge de Frutos also registered off the bench last time out, and he should come in to lead the line, while Andrei Ratiu, Pathe Ciss and Isi Palazon will be among those to return to the side.
As for Barcelona, Marc-Andre ter Stegen remains on the sidelines following a back operation, but the Catalan giants are otherwise in excellent shape in terms of their squad.
Robert Lewandowski is being eased back into the team following a hamstring problem, so Ferran Torres is likely to continue at the tip of the attack, having impressed early in the campaign.
There could be three changes to the side that took to the field for the first whistle against Levante, with Jules Kounde, Frenkie de Jong and Dani Olmo potentially being introduced.
De Jong missed out against Levante following the birth of his second child, but the Netherlands international has trained all week and is set to come back into the XI for the contest in Madrid.
Rayo Vallecano possible starting lineup:
Batalla; Ratiu, Lejeune, Felipe, Chavarria; Ciss, Lopez; Palazon, Diaz, A Garcia; De Frutos
Barcelona possible starting lineup:
J Garcia; Kounde, Araujo, Cubarsi, Balde; Pedri, De Jong; Yamal, Olmo, Raphinha; Torres
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We say: Rayo Vallecano 1-2 Barcelona
Tiredness should not be too much of an issue for Rayo, as wholesale changes will be made from Thursday's lineup. However, Barcelona have had a full week to prepare for this match, and we are expecting the reigning champions to navigate their way to an important three points in the capital.
For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.
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