The lowdown on Rayo Vallecano
La Liga is back this weekend and FC Barcelona are away to Rayo Vallecano on Saturday at 2pm CET. Let’s take a closer look at the team with the iconic red sash.
History
Hailing from Madrid’s typically working class neighbourhood of Vallecas, the name ‘Rayo’ means ‘stripe’ and refers to the club’s distinctive red diagonal on their shirt, which allegedly honours the colours of Argentinian club River Plate.
The club was founded in 1924, and is typically regarded as the ‘third team’ in the Spanish capital, although that mantle has been challenged in recent years by Getafe and Leganés.
Rayo did not play La Liga football until 1977. Since then, they have come to be regarded as the archetypical ‘elevator’ team of Spanish football, being relegated eight times, most recently in 2019, but always eventually bouncing back up.
Head to head
Until October 2021, Barça were on an incredible run of 14 straight wins against Rayo, including 7-0, 6-0 and 6-1 demolition jobs, but there has been a worrying change to the narrative of late, with Rayo winning three of the last four meetings and drawing 0-0 in the other, including their first ever win at Spotify Camp Nou
The first of those defeats turned out to be the final game in charge for coach Ronald Koeman, but under Xavi Hernández the negative run against Rayo has continued. Along with Granada, they are one of just two clubs that have never been beaten under the current manager.
Last five meetings
26/04/23 (LIGA) Rayo Vallecano 2-1 Barça
13/08/22 (LIGA) Barça 0-0 Rayo Vallecano
24/04/22 (LIGA) Barça 0-1 Rayo Vallecano
27/10/21 (LIGA) Rayo Vallecano 1-0 Barça
27/01/21 (COPA) Rayo Vallecano 1-2 Barça
09/03/19 (LIGA) Barça 3-1 Rayo Vallecano
Form guide
An astonishing 7-0 defeat at home to Atlético Madrid was very much a blip in what has otherwise been a very strong start to the season for Rayo, who had only lost one of the other eleven games they had played until they were beaten 2-1 at home by Liga leaders Girona just before the international break.
However, a run of six draws in seven games means their good form has not been rewarded with too many points and they go into this game in ninth place, with 12 points fewer than Barça.
The players
International caps
Radamel Falcao (Colombia, 104); Stole Dimitrievski (North Macedonia, 60); Andrei Rațiu (Romania, 15), Bebé (Cape Verde, 14), Iván Balliu (Albania, 9), Raúl de Tomás (Spain, 4), Pathé Ciss (Senegal, 4)
Barça connections
Born in Catalonia but an international for Albania due to his father's family, Ivan Balliu (pictured below) grew up at La Masia and made his Barça B debut in 2010/11 under Luis Enrique, and later played for two more years under Eusebio Sacristán before leaving for Arouca in Portugal. The right back also played for Metz in France and Almeria before joining Rayo in 2021.
Reserve goalkeeper Daniel Cárdenas spent a year of his youth at La Masia, but it was at Levante that he turned pro.
The manager
After Andoni Iraola left to manager Bournemouth, Francisco was appointed as his replacement. Having spent a large part of his playing days at his hometown club of Almería, it was there that he went into coaching, and prior to joining Rayo his previous clubs included Huesca, Girona and Elche.