Madrid was riding high after recently beating Barcelona in the clasico until Liverpool manhandled Xabi Alonso’s side in the Champions League on Tuesday. Liverpool won only 1-0 thanks to the goalkeeping of Thibaut Courtois.

Barcelona visits Celta Vigo also on Sunday looking to improve its defense after it needed a stellar performance by Lamine Yamal to salvage a 3-3 draw at Club Brugge midweek.

“We are Barça and have the obligation to always win,” Yamal said. “But now we must think about the next league game.”

Key matches

Madrid leads Barcelona by five points atop La Liga before it visits Rayo, which is in 10th place.

Alonso said his team will need to respond after Liverpool stymied his attack.

“We played well in the clasico. We leave (Anfield) feeling bad for the loss,” Alonso said. “We have to analyze what happened and then think about Rayo.”

Barcelona is also facing questions after Yamal had to score a great goal where he slalomed past two defenders in a tight space to help draw at Brugge. The Spanish champions had to erase three one-goal deficits to take home a point.

The Belgian rival found space behind a high defensive line that is missing leader Íñigo Martínez after he left for the Saudi Arabian league last summer.

Coach Hansi Flick said his team must play better without the ball.

“We don’t have the same confidence when playing the offside trap,” Flick said after the tie. “(But) we won’t change our way of defending.”

Players to watch
Kylian Mbappé should be savoring the trip to Rayo where he can exploit his speed against a high defensive line.

The France striker leads La Liga with 13 goals in 11 rounds, six more than the next highest scorer.

Out of action

Madrid holding midfielder Aurélien Tchouameni will be out for an undetermined period after injuring a left thigh muscle against Liverpool.

Forward Franco Mastantuono could also remain on the injured list after missing the Liverpool game with an injury in the groin area.

Barcelona has been hard hit by injuries and still has Pedri González, Raphinha, Gavi Páez, and goalkeepers Joan García and Marc-Andre ter Stegen unavailable.

Off the pitch

Barcelona will return to training at Camp Nou on Friday while work on Europe’s largest stadium continues. The club says the 23,000 tickets it put on sale for 5 to 10 euros ($6-$12) to see the team practice are sold out.

Club president Joan Laporta said this week he hopes to have games at Camp Nou this month.

The team has regularly played at the smaller, municipally owned Olympic Stadium since the start of the 2023-24 season. It’s last game at Camp Nou was in May 2023.

-AP

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