First slip for champs Barcelona

Champions Barcelona dropped their first points of the La Liga season with a 1-1 draw at Rayo Vallecano on Sunday.

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The Catalan giants had goalkeeper Joan Garcia to thank for earning them that as he made several fine saves on a testing night in the Spanish capital.

Barca took the lead through a contested Lamine Yamal penalty, at a time in the match VAR was not working, but Fran Perez levelled after the break for the hosts, who could have gone on to win.

After leaders Real Madrid won their third game on Saturday and Athletic Bilbao followed suit earlier on Sunday, Barcelona are fourth and trail the leaders by two points. “We didn’t deserve more — in the end we had a fantastic goalkeeper,” said Barca coach Hansi Flick. “We made too many mistakes, too many errors and this is why they come back and this was not a good match for us.”

Barca’s teenage star Yamal said his team had to come back strongly in a fortnight when La Liga resumes.