Yamal and Raphinha shine as Barcelona blast past Rayo in 7-goal thriller

Hansi Flick's side were not fully comfortable for long stretches, but once the game tilted their way, they had too much quality and too many weapons for Rayo to live with.

Match highlight

Rayo had failed to score in their previous 4 away league games against Barcelona, but after surviving some early pressure, they struck inside 12 minutes. Alvaro Garcia got free down the left and cut the ball back for Sergio Camello, who finished into the top corner for his 4th goal in 5 league appearances.

Instead, they reacted quickly. Raphinha first forced Daniel Cardenas into a save, then soon found the equaliser after taking a pass from Xavi Espart, beating the last defender with a neat touch and finishing beyond the goalkeeper.

From there, Barcelona started to squeeze the game. They pressed high, won the ball back close to the Rayo box and quickly turned that pressure into a 2nd goal. Marc Bernal fed Lamine Yamal just inside the area, and the teenager cut inside onto his left foot before firing in at the near post for his 1st goal of the 2026-27 season.

Pedri and Anthony Gordon both missed further openings as the home side took control, though Rayo still carried enough threat to keep the game feeling alive. A deflected effort from Gnangoro Bouare Samake caused Joan Garcia some trouble and reminded Barcelona that the night was far from settled.

Jules Kounde had the ball in the net, but the goal was ruled out for offside, which left the match hanging in an awkward place going into the break.

Barcelona made a strong start to the 2nd half and finally stretched the lead 6 minutes after the restart.

Dani Olmo slipped a pass through the line for Gordon, whose low cross across goal was turned into his own net by the retreating Florian Lejeune.

Just before the hour, Camello rose to head in from Unai Lopez's corner and suddenly Rayo were back within 1 goal. 2 minutes later, Barca almost completely lost their footing when Joan Garcia failed to deal with a volley from Fran Perez, only for Pau Cubarsi to rescue the situation with a huge clearance that denied Camello what looked like a certain hat-trick.

Barcelona took advantage of it. With around 20 minutes left, Gordon collected a long pass near the edge of the box, cut inside and cleverly flicked the ball into Raphinha's path, allowing the Brazilian to score his 5th goal of the season.

Rayo still tried to make a game of it and Randy Nteka forced a solid save from Garcia, but Barcelona had the final word. Karim Adeyemi supplied the pass, Yamal curled a low finish into the corner, and the teenager's 2nd goal of the night wrapped up a 5-2 win.

Barcelona are now 38 league matches without a draw, winning 32 and losing 6 in that stretch, while Rayo are still stuck with just 1 win against them in the 21st century.