Some things never change. Vallecas was once again a nightmare for almost all Barcelona fans. For a team that bases its game on quick combinations along the ground, there can't be a more effective kryptonite than an unplayable, small-sized field. To that factor, you have to add a Rayo that has returned to Europe 25 years later on its own merit, because it has a coach whose ideas are as fresh as they are clear and a squad that gives everything on the field. Taking all this into account, and considering that Barça fell apart in every area, both in attitude and performance, Flick's team did quite a lot by taking a point from Madrid.
Of course, if you have a goalkeeper between the posts who saves sure goals, everything becomes much easier. For many Barcelona supporters, Sunday night was one of mixed feelings. On one hand, their team's weaknesses were exposed, something that is concerning and, fortunately, very rare in recent times. On the other hand, they experienced firsthand what a Real Madrid fan feels on any given day with Thibaut Courtois, the calm of knowing the opponent will have to sweat blood to beat its goalkeeper, and that's a feeling many Barça fans had forgotten.
After two discreet performances against Mallorca and Levante, Joan García emerged as the savior of FC Barcelona in Vallecas. There were many, in fact too many, occasions when the Rayo players tested the Sallent goalkeeper, to the point of desperation at the constant outstanding interventions by the former RCD Espanyol player. Against Rayo, we saw once again that keeper who left us speechless in numerous matches defending the Perico badge. With cat-like reflexes, bravery when coming out, and a huge wingspan when blocking point-blank shots.
What a pleasant feeling it is to know that when nothing is working on the field, not all is lost yet. The opponent, no matter how much better it is than you, will have the difficult task of beating someone who stops the unstoppable. Ter Stegen, Iñaki Peña, Wojciech Szczęsny... All of them are more than proven goalkeepers. But there's a huge difference between having a good goalkeeper and having one who wins you matches with its saves. In recent years, Barça's problem wasn't in goal, but neither was the solution. What could be stopped was stopped, what was unstoppable wasn't. Now, with Joan García, things are different, FC Barcelona has someone between the posts who, many years later, is once again making impossible saves defending the blaugrana badge. So, despite the draw and the bad feelings in Vallecas, if Flick's team can reach last season's level of play and with a top-level lifesaver in goal, watch out for this team.