With several new faces registered to play at the eleventh hour, the hosts had endured something of a summer crisis, but you wouldn’t have known at the start of this evening, as marquee signings Robert Lewandowski (33) and Raphinha (25) took to the field as part of an impressive-looking Barcelona rebuild.
In hot and humid Catalonia, the early signs from Xavi’s new-look side were promising. They had been full of goals in pre-season, and the young talent of Pedri and Gavi linked up to good effect throughout the first period, even if the side were not quite at their flowing best.
There was an early warning for Andoni Iraola’s men, when a mazy run from last-season’s top assist provider Ousmane Dembele culminated in Lewandoski’s chipped finish, but the Polish striker saw it ruled out for offside.
Raphinha was a menace down the right, causing Rayo left back Fran Garcia constant trouble in a fiery atmosphere. However, despite Barcelona's dominance of the ball throughout the half, Rayo kept them relatively quiet in front of goal as they headed down the tunnel all square. It could have been worse for the hosts as Alvaro Garcia was denied from six yards out by Marc-Andre ter Stegen just before the break.
Nervous anticipation turned into tangible disappointment as Barcelona struggled to break the lines in the second half, although Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang saw his shot blocked on the line in the dying embers.
With frustrations boiling over, Sergio Busquets saw red in added time for a high elbow. Vallecano nearly won it late on but the offside flag went up after Salvi Sanchez had put the ball in the net from a rebound.
Much for Xavi to ponder, but visiting manager Andoni Iraola will be satisfied with the shared points, with his team ending a run of three straight LaLiga defeats.
