Barcelona Held To First Draw Of La Liga Season As VAR Drama Takes Centre Stage

Last Updated:September 01, 2025, 10:44 IST

Barcelona’s winning streak ended with a 1-1 draw at Rayo Vallecano as Lamine Yamal scored amid VAR issues and Fran Pérez equalized.

Barcelona's Lamine Yamal (AP)

Barcelona’s perfect start to the La Liga campaign ended on Sunday as they were forced to settle for a 1-1 draw at Rayo Vallecano, despite a standout performance from goalkeeper Joan García on a tense evening in Madrid.

The Catalan champions looked set to claim all three points after Lamine Yamal converted a disputed first-half penalty. But the hosts hit back after the interval through Fran Pérez, and might easily have taken all the spoils had it not been for García’s heroics.

The result leaves Barça fourth in the table, two points behind early leaders Real Madrid, who extended their perfect start with victory on Saturday, and Athletic Bilbao, who also won earlier in the day.

“We didn’t deserve more — in the end we had a fantastic goalkeeper," said Barcelona head coach Hansi Flick afterwards.

“We made too many mistakes, too many errors, and this is why they came back. This was not a good match for us."

Yamal’s Penalty Amid VAR Malfunction

Barcelona’s breakthrough came in controversial circumstances.

In the 40th minute, Yamal, the 18-year-old Spain international, went down under contact from Pep Chavarría inside the box. The referee pointed to the spot, but Rayo players protested vigorously, claiming the winger had gone down too easily.

To add to the drama, VAR was temporarily out of service due to technical issues, preventing officials from reviewing the call. So, Yamal stepped up confidently, sending goalkeeper Augusto Batalla the wrong way to score his second goal of the season.

Rayo head coach Íñigo Pérez stopped short of openly criticizing the referee, but did express frustration.

“I won’t put the blame on him," Pérez said. “But the inefficiency in this case, when VAR is not working, is difficult to accept."

Rayo Fight Back

Rayo Vallecano, spurred on by the packed Vallecas stadium, responded with aggression and purpose after the break. They finally got their reward in the 63rd minute when a corner was only half-cleared and Fran Pérez smashed a shot off the underside of the bar to level the score.

The hosts nearly completed the turnaround, but García came to Barça’s rescue. The summer signing from Espanyol produced a string of stunning saves, denying Isi Palazón early in the second half, foiling Jorge de Frutos one-on-one, and later stopping another Palazón effort with five minutes remaining.

Rayo thought they had found a winner when Andrei Rațiu bundled the ball home in the dying moments, but the flag went up for offside.

(with AFP inputs)

Siddarth Sriram

After training in the field of broadcast media, Siddarth, as a sub-editor for News18 Sports, currently dabbles in putting together stories, from across a plethora of sports, onto a digital canvas. His long-term...Read More

After training in the field of broadcast media, Siddarth, as a sub-editor for News18 Sports, currently dabbles in putting together stories, from across a plethora of sports, onto a digital canvas. His long-term...

Read More

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First Published:

September 01, 2025, 07:34 IST

News sports Barcelona Held To First Draw Of La Liga Season As VAR Drama Takes Centre Stage

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