Robert Lewandowski endured a frustrating debut for Barcelona on Saturday when Rayo Vallecano held on for a 0-0 draw at Camp Nou in their Spanish league opener.
Lewandowski and his new teammates were kept well in check by Rayo, which also proved dangerous on the break and was only stopped from scoring by the goalkeeping of Marc-Andre ter Stegen.
More than 81,000 fans turned out to see the new-look Barcelona that club president Joan Laporta built after mortgaging the future of the club to get some much-needed cash to sign Lewandowski and four other new players.
But the biggest applause Lewandowski heard from the crowd was to show their appreciation for his hustle on defense late in the match with Barcelona stymied in attack. The closest the former Bayern Munich star went to scoring was a header flicked well over the bar in the first half.
Barcelona finished with 10 men after Sergio Busquets got a second booking in stoppage time when he swung his arm into the face of Rayo substitute Radamel Falcao. Busquets' explusion will rule him out of Barcelona's visit to Real Sociedad. Falcao then had what looked to be a winner waived away for offside as Rayo went close to claiming a third straight win over Barcelona after it stunned the Catalan club twice last season.
"It is too bad because we wanted to show our fans that we are on the right path," Barcelona coach Xavi Hernández said. "We had generated a lot of expectations, but this is just the beginning. Today is disappointing for every Barcelona supporter, but we have to keep our faith in this way of playing as being the right one to win titles."
Lewandowski, winger Raphinha and defender Andreas Christensen, who also joined Barcelona this summer, all made Xavi Hernández's starting 11. The three players along with fellow newcomer Franck Kessié and the recently re-signed Ousmane Dembélé and Sergi Roberto were only declared eligible to play by the Spanish league on Friday after Barcelona sold yet another stake in its in-house production company to improve its troubled financial balance.
The delicate state of Barcelona's finances meant that it was unable to register Jules Koundé, its top defensive signing, in time for the season opener.
Xavi had said the demands placed on him and his team were higher this season because of the effort the club had made to give him a lot more talent after Barcelona won nothing last campaign following the exit of Lionel Messi.
But Rayo coach Andoni Iraola showed that Xavi still has a long way to go to forge a team as well-honed as his, which for a third meeting in a row held Barcelona without a goal. Iraola's team, led by midfielders midfielders Isi Palazón and Óscar Trejo, erased all the passing lanes for Lewandowski. Barcelona was unable to find the answer through Raphinha and Dembélé, who both wasted the one good chance they each got.
Barcelona's best chance came from late substitute Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, whose goal-bound shot was saved by defender Alejandro Catena in the 85th.
But previously, Barcelona had needed Ter Stegen to keep the game scoreless.
Ter Stegen closed out quickly to block Álvaro García's point-blank shot after the forward had streaked away down the left flank and cut back past the sliding Ronald Araújo just before halftime.
Barcelona had another scare early in the second half when Sergio Camello pounced on a ball lost by Araújo. Again Ter Stegen came to the rescue, forcing Camello into taking a shot from a narrow angle that trickled just past the far post.
"My team played tense and with nerves. I had tried to tell them that the pressure was on me," Xavi said. "But Rayo played well and closed off our passing game. They executed their game plan."
