La Liga kicks off with FC Barcelona taking on Rayo Vallecano at the Camp Nou as the Catalan giants begin their quest to return to the summit of Spanish football. It’s now been three years since Barca last lifted the La Liga crown and the pressure is on manager Xavi after having to witness their bitter rivals Real Madrid lift both the league title and the Champions League in the previous campaign. The Barcelona board has backed their manager with a host of new signings with the __ time La Liga champions bringing in a number of Europe’s best talents. However, apparent mismanagement in the front office means that Barcelona are currently in violation of the league’s financial fair play and will be unable to register any of their five big-name summer signings. Despite not having the likes of Lewandowski, Kounde, Kessi and Raphina, the Blaugrana still have more than enough talent in their squad to get the three points in the season opener.
Rayo Vallecano actually did the double over Barcelona last season where the club experienced a dramatic drop off in form in the second half of the season to ultimately finish 12th after flirting with the top four until Christmas. The focal point of the _____’s attack will be experienced La Liga striker Radamel Falcao. The Colombian has an excellent record against Barcelona in his career, netting four goals in five matches against the Catalans. Falcao should fancy his chances against what could be a vulnerable Barcelona defense without many of the expected preferred starters available for this one. New centre back pairing Jules Kounde and Andres Christiansen miss out due to the team’s registration problems while experienced veteran Gerrard Pique has fallen out of Xavi’s first team plans. The result sees a pairing of the young Eric Garcia and Ronald Araujo which should certainly provide the visiting Rayo with chances to take advantage.