Yamal scores from penalty spot but Barcelona needs goalkeeper Joan García to leave Rayo with a point

By Canadian Press on August 31, 2025.

BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Lamine Yamal scored from the penalty spot but Barcelona needed goalkeeper Joan García to ensure it left Rayo Vallecano with a point after a 1-1 draw in the Spanish league on Sunday.

The defending champions were largely outplayed by the modest side from Madrid with its speed and ability to break Barcelona’s offside trap.

It was Barcelona’s first slip of the season after it started with a pair of wins at Mallorca and Levante.

Yamal got the penalty after he dribbled past a defender and was knocked down by Pep Chavarría in a foul that was fiercely protested by Rayo’s players and staff.

Yamal stepped up and fired in the 40th-minute spot kick, before celebrating by gesturing as if he were placing a crown on his head. It was the 18-year-old’s second goal of the campaign.

Rayo’s pressure and the quickness of Jorge de Frutos, Álvaro García and Isi Palazón repeatedly created space behind Barcelona’s high defensive line.

García made five key saves, including denying De Frutos and Andrei Ratiu one-on-one. But the former Espanyol goalie could do nothing to stop Fran Pérez from blasting in a volley off a corner kick when he was left completely unmarked at the far post in the 67th.

Fermín López played as a second-half substitute amid speculation that Chelsea wants to sign the Barcelona midfielder before the summer transfer window closes on Monday.

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Joseph Wilson, The Associated Press

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