In the match of the 24th round of La Liga, Barcelona beat Rayo Vallecano 1:0 at the Montjuïc Stadium.
With this victory, the Catalans took over the top of the table, tied with Real on points, but with a better goal difference. Atletico is one point ahead, and Athletic Bilbao is six points behind.
The only goal of the evening was scored by Robert Lewandowski from the penalty spot in the 26th minute, after VAR confirmed a foul by Pate Ciss on Inigo Martínez.
The first half was marked by three controversial situations.
First, Hector Fort from Barcelona pulled down Mumin from Rayo Vallecano in the home team’s penalty area, but the referee did not award a penalty.
Not long after, after a VAR review, a penalty was awarded to Barcelona for a foul on Martínez by Ciss which was upheld after a VAR review.
A goal was disallowed for Rayo Vallecano in the final minutes of the first half of the match, which many spectators thought was legal, but not referee Mario Melero Lopez.
Although De Frutos was not offside, the assistant referee immediately raised the flag, believing that another player, who was indeed offside, had influenced the game.
It was Rayo striker Randy Nteka, who was indeed in light contact with a Barcelona defender, but it is not clear whether his offside decision influenced the game and the outcome of the situation.
Rayo Vallecano had several chances to equalize, just like Barcelona in the final minutes of the match, but the score remained 1-0 and the visitors suffered their first defeat in ten consecutive matches.
Barcelona will play away to Las Palmas in the next round, while Rayo will host Villarreal.
