(Football news) Prior to the international break, Xavi’s team, who currently sit third in the standings, defeated Alaves 2-1 at home, while Rayo Vallecano, in tenth place, lost their most recent game at home to Girona, the team leading the division.  Since dropping back to this level, Rayo has placed 12th and 11th in their two La Liga seasons. The capital team has also started the season well, accumulating 18 points to occupy the 10th spot in the standings.

Francisco’s team is only four points out of the top six going into the upcoming round of fixtures in Spain’s first flight. They have won four, drawn six, and lost only three of their 13 league games this season.

Prior to the international break, Rayo was actually riding high with nine straight wins, but they were defeated 2-1 by Girona, the team presently leading the division.

At Estadio de Vallecas, Alvaro Garcia gave the home team the lead, but Girona scored twice more without a response to take the lead and hand their Madrid opponents just their third league loss of the year.

The last time Rayo played Barcelona in the league was in March 2019, and they have really gone undefeated in those four meetings. The previous season, Los Franjirrojos triumphed 2-1 at home while the opening weekend of the campaign ended in a goalless stalemate at Camp Nou to split the points.

Although Robert Lewandowski scored a brace in the second half to secure all three points, Barcelona was far from convincing against Alaves in their previous meeting. The team fell down within the opening minute of play.

In the last four games across all competitions, the team has lost two of them, and the two victories during that streak have not been particularly convincing. It has been criticized that head coach Xavi has been leading the team. The team was especially lucky to win all three points against Real Sociedad last month.

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