In the upper half of La Liga, only RCD Mallorca won this weekend and opened a golden opportunity for Barcelona and Rayo Vallecano to gain ground on their rivals. The Blaugrana could go at Montjuic in the 21:00 CEST kick-off, while Rayo could pull in fifth place in three points of Villarreal.
There is little signs of rotation for both sides, where Hansi Flick Ansu Fati reminds the team, but expects to send his strongest line-up that he believes he is available. Sport says that Robert Lewandowski, Gavi and Frenkie de Jong, the last two set to get the nod over Dani Olmo and Marc Casado, in particular. Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Marc Bernal and Andreas Chrsitensen remain injured.
It also means a place on the couch for Ronald Araujo, where MD also agrees on the line-up. There is also consensus on the Rayo setup, where Inigo Perez Sergio Camello, Raul de Tomas and Unai Lopez missed due to injury.
That means that Pedro Diaz will probably get the nod in midfield next to Pathe Ciss, and Randy Nteka will play the goalkeeper in advance. Isi Palazon becomes the launch platform for the Rayo attacks using the pace of Alvaro Garcia, Jorge de Frutos and Andrei Ratiu wide.
Barcelona struggled at home this season, especially with lower blocks, and the side of Perez was a heavy note to crack. Only Dani Olmo's debut effect won the match in Vallecas in August, and Rayo has the sixth best defense in La Liga, for Barcelona. In the run -up to the game, Perez praised Barcelona's working speed, while Hansi Flick also noticed how happy he was with their mentality.
However, the Perez team is currently an unbeaten run of nine games, their best ever in La Liga, and already has real Madrid and Atletico Madrid to their name, albeit in Vallecas.
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