Barcelona will go seven points clear of Real Madrid in the La Liga title race with victory over Rayo Vallecano, and they have opened the scoring at the Spotify Camp Nou.
It has been a mad start to proceedings in Catalonia. Rayo should have scored inside the opening minute, but Joan Garcia produced a fantastic stop to deny Carlos Martin. Raphinha had an equally big chance to score soon after, but he prodded the ball wide in a 1-on-1 situation.
Fortunately for Barcelona, they are the side that has not been made to pay for their big miss. On 24 minutes, they have opened the scoring courtesy of Ronald Araujo, who has headed home Joao Cancelo’s corner at the back post.
Ronald Araújo opens scoring for Barça pic.twitter.com/3Kl7pdIiNT
— Goals Xtra (@GoalsXtra) March 22, 2026
Ronald Araújo opens the scoring! 🇺🇾
The Uruguayan defender heads in from a corner to give Barcelona the lead 🔵🔴
𝑃𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑏𝑦 @sbk | 18+ | 𝑃𝑙𝑒𝑎𝑠𝑒 𝐺𝑎𝑚𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑅𝑒𝑠𝑝𝑜𝑛𝑠𝑖𝑏𝑙𝑦 pic.twitter.com/s0qBSpGHfA
— Premier Sports (@PremSportsTV) March 22, 2026
It’s a big moment for Araujo, who had been a slight doubt for this match due to muscle discomfort. He’s had a season to forget, but this is a moment that he will be delighted with, and as things stand, it is taking Barcelona seven points clear in the La Liga title race.
