This La Liga season has been one full of ups and downs for FC Barcelona. Despite the effort from Hansi Flick and his men, there have been positive periods in the ongoing campaign but also negative ones. Ultimately, both have at least given Barcelona some valuable lessons to learn

At one point during the competition, the Catalan giants were leading the La Liga table with a comfortable lead. Soon after, primarily due to around two months of very poor results and performances in the league, Barcelona ended up losing their top spot.

Soon after, both Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid took full advantage of Barça’s inability to maintain their lead and capitalized. With a seven-point lead over Barcelona at one point, Los Blancos took over as the leaders in the Spanish First Division.

Now, after a rather short wait of just three games, Barcelona have an opportunity to take back their place at the top of the league table that they originally lost after a defeat to UD Las Palmas. That is because, as highlighted by SPORT, both Madrid-based teams have stumbled and dropped points simultaneously.

In the game between Real Madrid and CA Osasuna, a 1-1 draw ensured that Los Blancos would only get one point and be locked in at 51 points. Similarly, Atletico Madrid drew against Celta Vigo at the Metropolitano with a 1-1 final result as well, and that left Diego Simeone’s side with 50 points in total by the end of the game.

Barcelona, currently at 48 points, can now look at the game against Rayo Vallecano as their ticket back to the top of the league. If La Blaugrana manage to win that game at the Montjuic Stadium, they will end the game with three points that will take their points tally to 51, the same as Real Madrid.

However, due to their superior goal difference and head-to-head advantage over Real Madrid, they would be lead the La Liga table. Still, things are much easier said than done and Barcelona still need to ensure victory first before they can even worry about that top spot.

In terms of form, however, there is simply no denying how well Barcelona has been playing recently. Since the start of 2025, the Catalan side has played 11 games and only drew twice while winning every other game. Their goals speak for themselves this season, and the team is simply performing at a top level. That itself should be good motivation for them to go up against Rayo Vallecano with a lot of confidence.

Moreover, Hansi Flick already has his players back in training and except for certain stars still in recovery, he has most of his squad available. Now, it just remains to be seen how the Barcelona coach approaches the game and how he manages to come out of it as well.