Barcelona and Rayo Vallecano have named their starting sides for their La Liga meeting at Camp Nou on Thursday.
The reigning champions started their season in style with a 5-0 win at Elche on August 29, then beat Athletic Club 2-0 at home on Thursday.
Vallecano have squandered leads in their first two matches, losing 2-1 to a 97th-minute winner at Sevilla on matchday one before drawing at home to Alaves four days ago.
Should they win by two goals, Barca are guaranteed to supplant Real Madrid at the top of La Liga.
⚡️ 𝐔𝐧 𝐠𝐨𝐥 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐚 𝐞𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐞𝐫𝐝𝐨 😍
🅰️ @Isinhho
⚽️ Álvaro García #LALIGAHistory #BarçaRayo pic.twitter.com/yxvQF7TRpy— Rayo Vallecano (@RayoVallecano) August 30, 2026
Barcelona confirmed starting team vs Rayo Vallecano
Barcelona starting XI: Garcia, Cubarsi, Pedri, Yamal, Raphinha, Espart, Christensen, Gordon, Olmo, Bernal, Kounde
Barcelona substitutes: Cancelo, Balde, Fermin, Szczesny, Adeyemi, Rodrigo, Martin, Eric, Ferinas, Abdelkarim, Aller
Rayo Vallecano full line-up vs Barcelona in La Liga
Rayo Vallecano starting XI: Cardenas, Ciss, Lopez, Camello, Alvaro, De Frutos, Balliu, Oscar, Lejeune, Jozhua, Bouare
Rayo Vallecano substitutes: Adrian, Andrei, Diaz, Alemao, Pedrosa, Perez, Pelayo, Sias, Roman, Nteka, Tsitaishvili
Where to watch Barca vs Rayo Vallecano: TV channel, live online streams
Kick-off on Monday is at 20:30 BST (15:30 ET / 12:30 PT), with live coverage in the UK on Premier Sports 1 and streaming available on a vast range of devices via the Premier Sports app.
A Premier Sports subscription costs £120 a year, £11.99 per month on a 12-month contract or £16.99 per month with 30 days’ cancellation notice required.
Barcelona vs Rayo Vallecano stats, La Liga form
- The only 0-0 draw in the last 44 meetings between these teams came at Barcelona in August 2022, although Barca won the next edition they hosted 3-0 in May 2024 before their current run of two successive 1-0 wins in such matches
- Barcelona all-time top scorer Lionel Messi is the leading marksman in the history of the fixture by 12 goals, scoring a total of 18 against Vallecano
- With three goals each in this season’s La Liga, Raphinha and Fermin Lopez need one to move level with division top scorer Kylian Mbappe
- Anthony Gordon is one of six players to have assisted more than once in the 2026/27 top flight, requiring one more to match Espanyol’s Javi Hernandez at the top of the standings
- With a perfect home record in the 2025/26 Liga, Barca accumulated eight more points, scored nine more goals and conceded six fewer than any other team on their own turf
- They have 31 wins to Vallecano’s seven in the fixture, with 11 draws and an aggregate scoreline of 132-41
- Osasuna (13) and Getafe (14) were the only teams to score fewer away goals than Rayo Vallecano last season and not suffer relegation
- Vallecano have not scored in four visits to Barcelona since Alvaro Garcia netted the only goal of the game there in La Liga in April 2022
- Following a run of 14 successive defeats in the fixture between May 2003 and January 2021, Vallecano’s 1-0 wins over Barca during the 2021/22 season started a five-game unbeaten sequence against them (W3 D2), although they are winless in five (L4 D1) since then, lasting since May 2024
- Their defeat at Sevilla ended Vallecano’s three-match unbeaten away run in La Liga (W2 D1) since a 3-0 loss at Mallorca on April 12, which had also been the previous time they conceded more than once on the road
