Three talking points ahead of Barcelona vs Rayo Vallecano | La Liga MD 3

Three talking points ahead of Barcelona vs Rayo Vallecano | La Liga MD 3 Rayo Vallecano are one of the teams FC Barcelona continually struggle against in domestic competitions year after year. In their last four meetings, the Catalans have only scored five times. Yet, there is something off about Benat San Jose’s side this season and they have looked uncharacteristically off colour. Rayo Vallecano kicked off their league season with a 2-1 defeat to ten-man Sevilla and then drew 1-1 against Deportivo Alaves. On Matchday 3, they visit Barcelona at the Spotify Camp Nou and will look to turn their situation around. The Blaugrana’s situation, meanwhile, is the polar opposite as they have looked comfortable from the get-go and have been flying under Hansi Flick’s command. Barça Universal brings you three talking points ahead of Barcelona vs Rayo Vallecano. A start for the midfield maestros? The only discussion more hyped than Rodri’s arrival at Barcelona has been the idea of him playing alongside Pedri at the club, and fans saw that combination for the first time in the team’s last game. While Pedri started and played 85 minutes on the night, Rodri came on as a second-half substitute in the 63rd minute and shared the field with his compatriot for 20 minutes on the night. In just those 20 minutes, Barcelona looked magical in midfield. Rodri was indeed still far from his best, but his speed in circulating the ball and the ease with which he found his teammates in tight spaces made it clear that he is tailor-made for the system. Having already made his debut with a promising performance and with more training under his belt, the Spain national team captain could be looking up to his first start for Barcelona tomorrow night. As exciting as that sounds, however, what will be more spoken about is how Pedri and Rodri may potentially share the field from the opening whistle for the first time in Catalonia. All eyes, thus, will be on Flick’s selection and on the midfield should the duo indeed work in tandem from the get-go. It could mark the beginning of a special connection that may begin flourishing in just over 24 hours. Will Lamine join the party? It has been a quiet start to the season for Lamine. (Photo by Alex Caparros/Getty Images) Barcelona’s attacking department has simply been on fire so far this season with almost every player getting their flowers. Raphinha and Fermin Lopez have scored goals for fun, Karim Adeyemi has opened his account in terms of goals, and Anthony Gordon has looked lively and has had two assists to his name. The only player to not have a goal contribution yet, on that front, is Lamine Yamal and tomorrow could be the night he joins the party. Starting the team’s opening clash against Elche, Yamal looked fatigued and was far from his best, and that 60-minute-long performance was enough to get critics started. The teenage superstar then played out a lacklustre first-half against Athletic Club, but he came out after the break looking more spirited and created chance after chance in the second period. In fact, he was unlucky not to earn a goal or an assist. Since then, the player has looked jolly and in good spirits in training and it appears that he is past whatever was bothering him. As he enters the game tomorrow night, he will be eager to get back on the goalscoring metrics. One can thus expect Yamal to come out with fireworks against Rayo Vallecano, for the winger has shown that he does not like arriving late to any party before. Already late by now, he will look to announce his arrival back on the big stage. Going for three in three The biggest takeaway from Barcelona’s opening two league games so far has been the team’s imperious attacking form and the ease with which opportunities have been created. What is less spoken about, and perhaps more important, is how the defence has looked solid throughout the 180 minutes with the team not conceding a single goal so far. Keeping two clean sheets may not be significant, but what is special is the fact that Barcelona are currently the only team in La Liga to have not conceded a single goal. Considering how their defence is always scapegoated, that is significant. Tomorrow, as the Catalans take on an out-of-form Rayo Vallecano, there will undoubtedly be an unsaid objective of keeping another clean sheet and making it three out of three. With Pau Cubarsi back in the starting lineup, Gerard Martin acting as an able partner and the likes of Eric Garcia and Xavi Espart playing perfect defensive routines, Barcelona’s backline looks more stable than it has looked in recent seasons. The effort, needless to say, will be to keep that momentum going and strike the right balance between attacking flair and defensive solidity.