Barcelona vs. Rayo Vallecano: Winners and Losers from La Liga
Barcelona ran out winners in a ridiculously end-to-end La Liga match on Saturday night, beating Rayo Vallecano 5-2 at the Camp Nou.
Javi Guerra put Rayo ahead in the first half, but two Neymar penalties put the home side in front by half-time.
Chances aplenty were missed at both ends after the break, before Neymar struck twice more in the space of a minute thanks to plenty of help from Luis Suarez.
The duo swapped places after that as Neymar set up Suarez for the fifth, with Jozabed scoring a consolation late on for Rayo.
Here are all our winners and losers from the match.
Winner: Neymar
1 of 5
Neymar is one of the players who Barcelona have most been looking to and asking to step up with big performances in Lionel Messi's absence, and against Rayo, he certainly did that.
The Brazilian was sublime with his dribbling in the first half and won two penalties that he dispatched himself to turn the scoreline around. He also should have had two further spot-kicks that the referee missed.
In the second half, with Barcelona coming under pressure from the away side, Neymar's finishing in open play sealed the win as he scored his third and fourth in the space of a minute with two first-time shots, before setting up Luis Suarez for the fifth.
Losers: Pique and Mathieu
2 of 5
Barcelona centre-backs Gerard Pique and Jeremy Mathieu had an extremely loose game, losing possession with frequency and being inconsistent with their positional work and clearances.
Both conceded chances and failed to cover for each other as Rayo Vallecano made a series of runs in behind the defence, with Claudio Bravo being called into action a number of times in the opening stages of the second half in particular.
With Javier Mascherano rested in this game and Marc Bartra having impressed in recent games, neither Pique nor Mathieu put up a particularly compelling reason why they should remain in place alongside each other next time out.
AS noted Pique's poor defensive work in-game on Twitter.
Winner: Sergi Roberto
3 of 5
Sergi Roberto was, once again, excellent for Barcelona.
Making use of the huge space in midfield with ruthless efficiency and frequency, he set Barcelona away onto counter-attacks several times, especially in the first half when the likes of Ivan Rakitic and Luis Suarez were sent scampering away into the final third.
Roberto was industrious and helped win the ball back plenty after the break and it was noticeable that, without him in defence, the right-back area was rather less secure, too.
Sam Tighe noted on Twitter Roberto's endearing and enduring play this season: "Sergi Roberto is killing it. Another excellent performance. Probably Barca's most consistent player this season regardless of position."
Loser: Paco Jemez and His Defenders
4 of 5
Everyone knows how Paco Jemez's teams always play the same way, but when it continually runs up heavy defeats, then the boss surely has an obligation to change something within his tactics.
The attack worked well to an extent in that they caused Barcelona problems, but the kamikaze defending at the other end saw Rayo exposed so many times that they might have been four or five down even by the break.
Individually, though, the entire defence has to take a lot of responsibility; continually making diving tackles on Neymar inside the penalty box was a stupid decision, and one they were punished for to great effect.
Winner: Claudio Bravo
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Claudio Bravo might have been beaten twice, but he kept Barcelona ahead for a large spell of the second half as Rayo poured forward and took advantage of Pique and Mathieu's poor performances.
The Chilean 'keeper made reaction saves, ran off his line quickly and punched high balls clear to keep Rayo at bay and denied Guerra, Lass Bangoura and Roberto Trashorras in quick succession.
At the other end, Tono also deserves a mention for a string of saves of his own—but he can't really be labelled a winner after being beaten five times and creating a few problems himself thanks to poor distribution out from the back.
