Barcelona crashed to another shock defeat on Sunday night as they were edged out by Rayo Vallecano at the Camp Nou.
It ensured the club suffered a third successive home defeat in the same season for the first time in their history, meaning boss Xavi Hernandez set an unwanted record. Earlier this month, the club's European hopes were ended for the campaign as they crashed to defeat at home to Eintracht Frankfurt before slipping to a surprise home defeat against lowly Cadiz last week in La Liga. The other occasion the club have lost three successive home games came at the end of the 1997-98 season and start of the 1998-99 season under Dutch boss Louis van Gaal.
While they did record an encouraging victory at Real Sociedad last week – although the Blaugrana were second best for long periods in that game, which ended in a one-goal victory – it continues a concerning trend for the club, who will finish this season trophyless.
The league title has long gone for the Catalan giants as Real Madrid now require just one victory from their final five league matches to clinch the title. However, Barca may be wary that they could yet slip out of the top four places and a potential Champions League slot for next season – which would represent a massive blow to their financial situation.
Barca are second but are level on points with Sevilla, just two points ahead of Atletico Madrid and are six ahead of Real Betis, in fifth, whom they yet have to play in Seville. While their league position remains strong, their form is a concern and with five rounds of action still remaining – they still have work to do to guarantee their top four finish.
Sunday night’s loss also continued another concerning trend for Barca as Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang failed to find the net. The Gabonese striker has already hit double figures in Xavi’s side since making his debut in February and has proven decisive in his early stages at the club.
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Aubameyang may have made a fast start to life at his new club but he has, somewhat surprisingly, struggled to make an impact during matches at the Camp Nou. Sunday’s blank against lowly Rayo Vallecano was his ninth match at the stadium for his new club yet he has only found the net twice in that run of games.
The 32-year-old hit the winner at Real Sociedad on Thursday but has been enduring an underwhelming run of games. He failed to make an impact in either leg of their Europa League loss to Frankfurt and was subbed off just after the hour mark as they chased goals in the second leg – a damning indictment of Xavi’s hopes of who would bring his side back into the game.
Furthermore, he was excluded from the starting line-up against Cadiz last week and failed to make an impression as a second half substitute. Sunday’s loss to Rayo was another example of Barca chasing a vital goal but taking off their main central striker in their pursuit of doing so.
