Rayo Vallecano 1-5 Barcelona: 5 Talking Points
Barcelona extended their lead to 8 points in La LigaLa Liga leaders Barcelona hammered Rayo Vallecano 5-1 at the Vallecas with a hat-trick from Messi coming amidst two straight red cards for the hosts. Ivan Rakitic opened the scoring for the visitors, with Arda Turan completing the rout late on, with Suarez also missing a penalty as Barcelona created a La Liga record by going unbeaten for 35 consecutive games in all competitions.The Catalans dominated the game thoroughly, although Rayo did put in a spirited display, despite having two men sent off during the game. The scoreline was rather harsh on Rayo and did not reflect the competitive nature of the game, not the questionable refereeing calls that were made.Here are 5 major talking points from the game:
#1 Barcelona have a penalty problem
Barcelona are artisans on the pitch, and last night managed to weave their magic in front of goal, as they have been doing for the majority of the season. However, when it comes to the most obvious of football situations – a one-on-one with a goalkeeper that requires one touch (most times, anyway) to score, Barcelona fail to perform.
This oddity reminds us that the fabled MSN trio are human after all, along with their much lesser hyped team-mates. However, the irony is that Barcelona’s mediocrity from the penalty spot this season created history as well, albeit a rather unwanted record:
The Catalans have missed 9 of their 18 penalties in all competitions, with most of their stars missing penalties. Thankfully, the miss did not allow Vallecano back into the game, although it is telling that Messi refused to take the penalty despite being on a hat-trick. Perhaps it’s time for another tandem penalty, as the Catalans seem interested only when the situation gets a little more complex.
It was also rather surprising to hear that the Barca players listened to a fan campaign to get Mascherano to take a penalty and score his first goal for Barcelona, but Pique revealed that the Argentine turned down the offer of taking the penalty. Perhaps some things do scare this Barcelona side after all.