Barcelona frustrated by Rayo Vallecano as Sergio Busquets sees red in scrappy goalless draw

Barcelona were forced to settle for a point in their La Liga opener, thrashing out a goalless draw with Rayo Vallecano at Camp Nou. After a summer spent frantically pulling at economic levers, this was Barca’s first chance to show off their new signings – other than Jules Kounde, who they weren’t able to register in time – in a competitive setting.

While all eyes were on Robert Lewandowski ahead of his first start in La Liga, he was largely anonymous in the first half as the hosts struggled to find their rhythm in attack. Ad Raphinha, another of Barca’s new arrivals, could feasibly have won a penalty just under 10 minutes in when he got in behind on the right only to go down under pressure from Fran Garcia in the box.

It was a light touch, however, and referee Alejandro Hernandez Hernandez declined to intervene. LigaKounde missing from Barca registered players list, Lewandowski set for debutYESTERDAY AT 20:49 That seemed to throw off the former Leeds man, who went on to squander a series of set-pieces and presentable chances.

While he combined well with Ousmane Dembele – swapping flanks with his teammate midway through the first half as Xavi Hernandez tried to unsettle Rayo’s defence – he twice failed to hit the target after being set up in a promising position. Barca had the lion’s share of possession, but Rayo had probably the best chance of the first half just before the break when Alvaro Garcia raced down the left flank, cut inside and sent Ronald Araujo the wrong way with a clever shimmy.

He looked destined to score, but Marc-Andre ter Stegen managed to smother the shot at close range. Rayo picked up where they had left off in the second half, Pathe Ciss winning the ball high up the pitch and kickstarting an attack