Rayo Vallecano forward Alvaro Garcia netted an early goal to give his side a surprise 1-0 win against Barcelona at the Camp Nou on Sunday, moving Real Madrid another step closer to sealing their 35th La Liga title.

Garcia sealed the game for the visitors when he opened the scoring in the seventh minute, receiving the ball inside the box and rifling it past goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen to a wave of whistles.

Barcelona failed to convert a number of golden chances despite going agonisingly close to an equaliser with the referee playing 14 minutes of stoppage time at the end of the second half.

“These mistakes cannot be repeated and they have happened to us again. They are very good opportunities that we let pass us by,” Barcelona coach Xavi Hernandez told reporters.

“I leave angry, disappointed, because today (Sunday) was ... a repeat of what happened against Eintracht (Frankfurt), as well as Cadiz. We lacked a lot of effectiveness.”

Real Madrid now need only one point from their last five games to secure the title, while Barcelona are second on 63 points, 15 behind Real and level with Sevilla in third.

This is the first time Barcelona lost three in a row at home in all competitions in the same season.

Xavi introduced three forwards off the bench in the second half as Memphis Depay, Adama Traore and Luuk de Jong all came on before the 71st minute.

“I think we generated many clear chances to at least equalise. If we equalised with enough time, I think we would have won it. We have complicated our own qualification for the Champions League,” Xavi added.

“If we want to hear the music of the Champions League next season, we have to match (the Champions League teams) in their enthusiasm.”