Consistency Brings Barcelona Back to the Top

BARCELONA, TUESDAY – Barcelona's consistent performance has finally yielded sweet results by seizing the top position from Real Madrid in the Spanish League. The narrow 1-0 victory over Rayo Vallecano, which was marked by controversy, opens up the opportunity for Barcelona to chase the championship title this season.

With the addition of three points from the match held at the Lluis Companys Olympic Stadium, Barcelona, Tuesday (2/18/2025) early morning WIB, Barcelona equaled Real Madrid's points, which was 51 points. Barca is entitled to occupy the top position because they are superior in head to head and goal difference over Real.

In the first el clasico match of the season, October 27, 2024, Barcelona crushed Real with a score of 4-0. Meanwhile, Barca also has a goal difference advantage with a surplus of 40 goals and Real only has a surplus of 29 goals.

In the last five matches of the Spanish League, Barcelona won four times and drew once. On the other hand, Real performed very poorly with two draws, one loss, and only two wins.

The competition at the top of La Liga is getting fiercer as Atletico in third place is only one point behind Barcelona and Real Madrid. The consistency of performance from all three will be the key to winning the championship at the end of the season.

In the match against Rayo, the Blaugrana players were forced to work hard to break down the visitors' defense. Barca had a golden opportunity in the 26th minute when Inigo Martinez was fouled by Pathe Ciss in the penalty box.

Robert Lewandowski, who acted as the executor, successfully completed his task in the 28th minute and put Barca ahead 1-0. The goal also solidified Lewandowski's position as the top scorer currently with 21 goals, further distancing himself from Kylian Mbappe with 17 goals.

Rayo, who did not want to be easily defeated, tried to retaliate through Alvaro Garcia who took a shot from near the goal. Fortunately for Barca, goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny was able to block the ball.

Rayo's attempt to break through Barca's goal came to fruition in the 44th minute. Jorge de Frutos, who received a through ball in the penalty box, managed to shake Szczesny's net. However, the goal was disallowed because the video assistant referee saw an offside violation first.

In replays, de Frutos was actually onside. However, according to Spanish media outlet Marca, Rayo's Randy Nteka was deemed offside after blocking Inigo Martinez's run towards de Frutos.

After the controversy, Barca continued to intensify their attacks so that statistically they controlled 59.7 percent of the match time. In total, Barcelona released 14 shots and five of them were on target. Meanwhile, Rayo released nine shots and four of them were on target.

Until the match ended, no additional goals were scored so Barca was entitled to three points. Although only narrow, the victory was still grateful for by Barca players.

"We can't always win 3-0 every game. We have to work hard for that," said Barcelona defender Alex Balde.

Barcelona coach Hans-Dieter Flick said the victory was important for his team to maintain their unbeaten run of 12 matches since the start of 2025. The positive result that brought them to the top of the standings must also be accepted with joy.

"It was a lot of hard work from the players and in the end we are happy. Everyone is happy about the new position. We played very well, although I think we could have done better," Flick said. (AP)