Twitter erupts as Barcelona lose third consecutive game at Camp Nou
Barcelona suffered a shock 1-0 defeat at the hands of Rayo Vallecano in La Liga on Sunday. This is the third home game in a row that Xavi's side have lost, following defeats against Eitracht Frankfurt and Cadiz.
Xavi named one of his strongest possible lineups for the game. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang lead the attack with Ousmane Dembele and Ferran Torres on the wings. Sergio Busquets, Frenkie de Jong and Gavi started in midfield. Ronald Araujo partnered Eric Garcia at the heart of the defense, with Sergino Dest and Jordi Alba on either flank.
The game started off terribly for the hosts as Alvaro Garcia gave Rayo Vallecano the lead in the seventh minute of the game. Isi Palazon skinned Alba on the wing before chipping a pass into the box for Garcia to strike home. The goal seemed to have woken the Blaugrana up as they started to dominate proceedings, but were unable to carve out any significant chances.
It wasn't until the 42nd minute that the Blaugrana had a golden opportunity to level the scores. However, Gavi saw his strike hit the underside of the bar. The half ended with Xavi's side on top in terms of play, but yet to find an equalizer.
The second-half started much the same as the first as Palazon had a great opportunity to double Rayo Vallecano's lead, but Alba was on hand to block what was a certain goal. Barcelona then continued to put pressure on the visitors but were, once again, unable to break down a resilient defense.
Both sides had chances to score in time added on, as Depay and Dembele saw their efforts thwarted. Meanwhile, Pathe Ciss saw his strike flick off the post and go wide. The game ended in defeat for Barcelona.
Barcelona's loss hands Real Madrid the La Liga title
Ahead of the game, Barcelona were the only side that had a chance, although minute, to prevent Real Madrid from winning the La Liga title. Xavi's side were 15 points behind Los Blancos with a game in hand and six games left to play.
However, with this loss, the best the Blaugrana can do now is tie Real Madrid's points tally. Also, with a massive goal difference between the two sides, Los Blancos have all but been crowned the league champions this season,
With that being said, here are the best Twitter reactions to Barcelona's 1-0 loss against Rayo Vallecano:
Full Time #BarçaRayo https://t.co/Eqb7kLRNE2
Barcelona LOSE three straight home matches in the same season for the FIRST TIME EVER 🤯 https://t.co/5R1YQszE5m
rd time in 
days 
Barcelona lose at the Camp Nou for the 3️⃣rd time in 🔟 days 😳 https://t.co/aGqaw3dLmO
Koeman destroyed Barcelona from inside out, imploded the team so bad they were 12 points behind Madrid. Then Xavi came, reversed all the errors from Koeman, revolutionized the squad top to bottom and is now 15 points behind Madrid.
Barcelona have lost six games in La Liga this season. Pedri did not play in any of them. https://t.co/7WXWGhLNcA
He is just 17 but he fought harder than anyone in this game. Barcelona have to protect him at all costs. https://t.co/1EOdt8SMQZ
Barcelona lose to Rayo Vallecano for the second time this season 😬 https://t.co/NoPyLQkfMb
Barcelona fans: “We have a game in hand”
The game in hand: 😂😂😂 https://t.co/Y2KivIALwP
Reporter: How will you define Barcelona's current status?
Xavi: We won 4-0 against Real Madrid at their own stadium. https://t.co/JltWlPtTzF
Barcelona fans when they're:
-out of UCL group stages
-lost the league to Real Madrid
-bottled Europa League
-lost the super cup to Real Madrid
-trophyless
BUT BEAT REAL MADRID 0-4
https://t.co/8XHGWcnBNQ
Dani Alves is right, Real Madrid are very lucky Barcelona woke up late and couldn’t challenge for the title. The form they found under Xavi ball is sensational. https://t.co/pZlxjjxLLt
Quick stat: Xavi has lost his 7th game as a manager for Barcelona.
When Zidane lost his 7th game as the Real Madrid manager, he had already won 8 trophies for the club. https://t.co/qFLMLou7PX
This is the only achievement of Barcelona in this season. https://t.co/LdCvYI94TZ
- Xavi is a good coach
- Barcelona are much better with Pedri
- Some of Xavi’s early success was ‘new manager effect’
- Barca’s normalization in form was expected
(All 4 of these things can be true)
Now we can all agree that Pedri is the best Barcelona midfielder out there. He and Dembele were the reason for that Fabolous run of winning games
Xavi| Barca| la Liga| https://t.co/Px7CrgdsBb
So when will Barcelona be Barcelona again? https://t.co/XLQJqmabhM
Barcelona creativity without pedri https://t.co/RM2WezRyo8
Barcelona played 90mins plus first extra time and they didn’t get even a single goal. The most useless team in the world 😂😂😂
Those Barcelona fans that keep selling their tickets ain’t wrong. Imagine spending huge amount of money to watch your team play terrible football for 90+ 14mins 😂😂
Barcelona have lost 6 matches at the Camp Nou in a single season for the first time in the 21st century. https://t.co/ESBrSMWlOn