Claudio Bravo extended his clean sheet record by another match with Barca wining 2-0 away against Rayo Vallecano. After the defeat to PSG in mid-week Barca needed to get to winning way quickly but Rayo presented a huge challenge. In the end Barca's exceptional quality secured three precious points. With Valencia climbing to the top of the league with a surprising 3-1 victory over defending Champion Atletico Madrid, there was no lack of motivation for Barca. Xavi's position in starting eleven has been a subject of great discussion especially after the defeat in Paris. So it wasn't a huge surprise to see him returning to the starting eleven and the tried and trusted trio of Barca midfield was back with Iniesta, Busquets and Xavi forming the midfield. Pique returned to the defense and partnered Bartra in the center with Alves and Matthieu as full backs. It was pretty nice to see Matthie playing left back which simply added enough height to our defense like we had when Abidal was the Left back. The front trio remained unchanged with Neymar, Messi and Munir.
