Barcelona also stumbles and fails to capitalize on Real Madrid misstep

With a 2-1 defeat against Rayo Vallecano, FC Barcelona failed to capitalize on the defeat of Real Madrid, which lost 4-2 to Girona yesterday.

The lead and the championship are not yet in danger for Barcelona: coach Xavi’s team still has an 11-point lead with seven games to go.

In the away match, Barcelona went behind after just under 20 minutes through Álvara Garcia Rivera. He shot the ball from the penalty area tightly into the corner.

Less than ten minutes before halftime, Fran Garcia doubled the lead. Unable to conquer the ball, Frenkie de Jong allowed him to steam alone toward Barca goalkeeper Marc-André Ter Stegen’s goal and fired in.

Robert Lewandowski did return the favour for Barcelona ten minutes before time, through a hard shot. But to no avail for the Catalans.

De Jong played the whole match for Barcelona.

Atlético Madrid recorded a 3-1 victory over Real Mallorca earlier in the evening. Matija Nastasic did give Mallorca the lead after 20 minutes, but Rodrigo de Paul, Álvaro Morata and Yannick Carrasco still ensured a Madrid victory.