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Barcelona were denied a winning start to their new La Liga campaign as they were held to a goalless draw by Rayo Vallecano at the Camp Nou on Saturday night (August 13).
The Blaugrana came into the game on the back of a superb pre-season run, with the club winning five and drawing two of their seven friendlies.
Despite the gulf in class and quality between the two sides, the visitors did just enough to claim a point.
Robert Lewandowski and fellow summer signing Frank Kessie had the ball in the back of the net either side of the half-time break, only to be denied by the offside flag on both occasions.
A 93rd-minutes red card shown to Sergio Busquets capped off a frustrating evening for Barca, who have now failed to win their last three league games against Rayo Vallecano.
On that note, here are the five talking points from the goalless draw at the Camp Nou.
#5 Rayo Vallecano grab a huge point away from home
Barcelona were the firm favorites to stroll away with all three points on their home turf. Xavi’s side also started with summer signings Andreas Christensen, Lewandowski and Raphinha.
However, Rayo Vallecano will be the happier of the two teams following the goalless draw in the Catalonian capital.
Los Franjirrojos, who secured a 12th-placed finish last term, will now hope the draw can serve as a springboard in their bid for a top-half finish this season.
#4 Robert Lewandowski fails to make his mark
Lewandowski’s £40.5 move to the Camp Nou from Bayern Munich was met with plenty of excitement among the Barcelona faithful.
The Polish striker netted a staggering 344 goals in 375 appearances for Bayern, helping the Bavarians to eight Bundesliga titles and one Champions League trophy, among other honors.
However, Lewandowski failed to find the back of the net in his competitive debut for Barca. His contributions in the final third remained solid, though, as he had one shot on target, played two key passes and had a goal ruled out for offside.
#3 Rayo Vallecano continue to be a bogey opponent for Barca
Barcelona lost both their La Liga games against Rayo Vallecano last season.
Los Franjirrojos claimed a hard-fought 1-0 victory at home before beating the Catalan giants by the same margin in the return fixture at the Camp Nou.
Following Saturday’s result, Barcelona have now failed to find the back of the net in three successive games against Rayo Vallecano. They last scored against the Madrid-based outfit back in January 2021, beating them 2-1 victory in the Copa del Rey.
#2 Jules Kounde missing from Barcelona squad
Summer signing Jules Kounde didn't feature against Rayo as he was not registered in time to make the match-day squad.
The French defender moved to Barca from league rivals Sevilla for an initial £45 million last month, putting pen to paper on a five-year contract with the Catalan outfit.
Due to their current financial crisis, Barcelona needed to activate a fourth economic lever and sell off 24.5% of Barca Studios to Orpehus Media for £85m in a bid to register their new signings (as per The Athletic).
Lewandowski, Raphinha, Kessie and Christensen were all registered in time for the game against Vallecano. Barca also managed to register Sergi Roberto and Ousmane Dembele, who recently penned new contracts.
The Blaugrana will need to further lighten their wage bill to register Kounde ahead of their next La Liga fixture against Real Sociedad at the Anoeta on August 21.
#1 Rayo Vallecano fail to make their chances count
Despite being on the back foot for the majority of the game, Rayo Vallecano put on a solid attacking display as they kept the Xavi’s team on their toes.
Alvaro Garcia came close to giving the visiting side the lead in the first half when he took out defender Ronald Araujo with a clever piece of skill. However, he failed to beat German shot-stopper Marc-Andre ter Stegen, who did well to block the shot and keep Barca in the game.
Atletico Madrid loanee Sergio Camello also saw his chipped effort go over the crossbar in the second half.
