"Robert Lewandowski Scores 18th LaLiga Goal as Barcelona Loses 1:2 to Rayo Vallecano"

Robert Lewandowski in the match against Rayo Vallecano scored a goal after four matches without a goal. This is his 18th LaLiga goal this season
Barcelona, however, lost to Rayo 1:2. Barcelona have suffered three defeats and one draw in their last four matches against this rival
Despite the defeat, Barcelona remains the leader with an advantage of 11 points over Real
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Robert Lewandowski’s bad streak is over. His count of minutes without a recognized goal ended at 466. He found the net in the 82nd minute from quite close range. Earlier, he even scored a goal, but the referee disallowed it because of the minimum offside.

Barcelona played worse again. She has only scored two goals in her last five matches. The previous goal ensured victory in Sunday’s match against Atlético, but before that, they lost to Real Madrid 4-0 in the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey, and then only drew 0-0 with Girona and Getafe. Now she played even worse and did not match Rayo 1:2. Thus ended an eight-match unbeaten streak in the league.

The Curse of Barcelona

Rato is the real curse of Barca. The club from Vallecas, a working-class district of the Madrid agglomeration, has a patent for stars from Catalonia. So what if he hasn’t been in his best form lately and has won one out of ten matches. However, he can play with tycoons. Earlier this season, he beat Real Madrid 3-2, and he has had a way at Barcelona for a long time.

They did not lose against them in four matches in a row, won three times and drew 0-0 at the inauguration of the season. It was Lewandowski’s debut in the Spanish league. He didn’t score then, but then he started shooting on cue, thanks to which he still leads the Spanish league’s top scorers list. In the match against Rayo, he improved his record to 18 goals.

Barcelona, despite the defeat, remains at the top of the Spanish league and is still 11 points ahead of second-placed Real, who also do not use the chance to chase Barca. On Tuesday, the team from Madrid lost 4-2 to Girona.

Bad start for Barcelona

Barca have only played one good game in recent weeks, when they beat Atlético on Sunday. Xavi has only made one change to the starting eleven compared to this match. In midfield, Pedri replaced Sergio Busquets. The 20-year-old was included in the first team of Barcelona for the first time since February 12. Then he recovered from the injury, returned to the game on Sunday, and now he has appeared on the pitch from the first minute.

Barcelona had problems from the beginning of the game. In the eighth minute, Isi Palazon scored, but Marc-Andre ter Stegen saved his shot. In the 17th minute, the hosts had an even better chance. Sergio Camello found himself one-on-one with ter Stegen, but the German goalkeeper proved his class again.

Two minutes later, however, he finally gave in. Alvaro Garcia hit hard and Rayo took the lead.

Four minutes later, Lewandowski had a great opportunity to equalize, but lost a one-on-one duel with Stole Dimitrievski.

Lewandowski’s long-awaited break

At the end of the first half, the Pole finally found the net. His joy, however, was short-lived as the referee flagged offside. The VAR judges analyzed this situation because the offside was minimal and in the end the goal was disallowed. Lewandowski still couldn’t break through.

Moments later, Rayo again threatened Barcelona’s goal, but Camello’s header was saved by ter Stegen.

The beginning of the second half was very unsuccessful. Frenkie de Jong lost the ball in the 53rd minute before left-back Fran Garcia found himself one-on-one with the goalkeeper and beat the Barcelona goalkeeper. Rayo was leading 2-0.

Barcelona then played as if they had accepted defeat. She didn’t even create a dangerous opportunity for a long time. Finally, however, Franck Kessie struck from distance, his shot was blocked. The Polish striker got to the stray ball the fastest and hit the net.

For him, the goal probably means a lot, but it didn’t change much for the match, because Barca lost anyway. Plus, she did it in a very bad style. Regardless, he’s still on his way to the championship.