SHAMEFUL: the pitch and facilities of Vallecas, in terrible condition for the Rayo-Barça match

The Vallecas Stadium hosted the Rayo Vallecano-FC Barcelona match under deplorable conditions. Since the beginning of the week, multiple news sources had warned about the terrible state of the pitch, but this was not the only problem at the stadium during matchday 3 of LaLiga EA Sports 2025/26.

The sides of the field and the corners looked dry and had multiple bumps, posing a risk to the players. Not to mention the areas, where there were also patches everywhere. Reactions were not long in coming. Not only the pitch, but also other facilities such as booths and bathrooms showed a deplorable face on Sunday.

The press doesn't believe the conditions at Vallecas for Rayo-Barça

Lobo Carrasco, on 'El Chiringuito Inside', commented that "as a player, I prefer the pitch to be flat rather than muddy. When they water it too much and create puddles on purpose... When things like this happen, I would apply sanctions."

In the same vein, Jota Jordi expressed his concern about a player getting injured: "The best league in the world (ironically). Imagine Lamine gets injured today. The best player in LaLiga that Tebas wants to take to Miami to make money at the expense of Lamine, among others. What would we do? We would have to say that football cannot be played here."

Furthermore, Jordi added that "I think it's fine that the Spotify Camp Nou cannot be played on until it's ready, but this pitch shouldn't be played on either."

Meanwhile, 'RAC1' warns that "it's one of the worst stadiums or the worst stadium in the first division." Everything is disgusting, full of dust. The conditions at Rayo are complicated."

Unheard of: Even VAR didn't work in Vallecas

It should be noted that LaLiga approved for Rayo Vallecano to play their first two LaLiga matches away against Girona (1-3) and Athletic Club de Bilbao (1-0) to be able to remodel the Vallecas Stadium.

Once the deadline was met, they were supposed to debut as locals against the Blaugrana team in their new stadium. However, LaLiga finally authorized the Rayo-Barça match to be played in a venue that, clearly, is still not in condition to host First Division matches.

Fans complained on social media about the condition of the bathrooms. In addition, journalists from Radio Nacional also denounced the poor state of the booths.

To top it all off, during the first half, referee Busquets Ferrer lost connection with VAR. According to information from 'RAC1', the failure was due to a break in the transmission with 'Mediapro's' server.

LaLiga turns a blind eye to Vallecas, but the Spotify Camp Nou...

While LaLiga allows the match between the Blaugrana and Rayistas to be played under these conditions, it does not grant permission to play at the Spotify Camp Nou. Generally, the Culé venue has better pitch and better conditions than those presented tonight in Vallecas.

However, Barça is still denied the necessary permits to reopen the Stadium. Hopefully, the club will have a license to play matchday 4 against Valencia with a partial capacity of 27,000 spectators, while Vallecas hosts just over 14,000 fans in dismal conditions.