Barcelona secured a huge 5-1 win at home to Villarreal on Sunday to maintain their position at the top of the La Liga table.
The Catalan giants were unstoppable again as they ran five goals past Villarreal’s defense to secure another victory, just days after Thursday’s Champions League defeat to Monaco.
Hansi Flick’s side have 18 points, four ahead of fierce rivals Real Madrid and five ahead of Atlético de Madrid.
How the game developed
It was the hosts who jumped into the game, earning themselves a chance early on as Ayoze Perez fired a shot into the back of the net. His efforts were quickly canceled out by the assistant referee’s flag as Barcelona breathed a sigh of relief and recovered to go ahead.
The Catalan giants took the initial threat as motivation to get on the ball. Lamine Yamal came close to scoring the first goal of the game, firing a beautiful shot into the top left corner before it bounced off the post.
However, Robert Lewandowski wasted no time in giving Barca the lead, but he produced a smart shot thanks to a sneaky pass from Pablo Torre. The Spanish midfielder disguised his assist to slide the ball into Lewandowski, who made the most of Diego Conde’s position away from goal to put his side 1-0 up.
Yamal and Jules Kounde tried to double Barça’s lead as they unleashed their chemistry down the right wing. They were unable to gain anything from their efforts, but a few minutes later Lewandowski fired the ball into the back of the net, earning a brace and putting Barca on the scoresheet once more.
Villarreal got back into the game when Perez finally got the chance to get his name on the scoresheet after his first chance. He struck with his right foot to earn his fourth goal of the season and give the hosts a lifeline.
Just before half-time, Barca faced a major blow when Marc-Andre ter Stegen fell to the ground in agony. The shot stopper backpedaled in his attempt to collect the ball in the air, landing awkwardly before being dragged off the pitch.
He was replaced by Inaki Pena, who received his first La Liga appearance since February.
When play resumed, it was again Barça who dictated the pace. On this occasion, it was Pablo Torre who strengthened the scoring with a shot towards the area that reached the back of the net after it deflected Logan Costa.
Lewandowski had the chance to claim a hat-trick when he rose to take a Barca penalty after a foul on Yamal inside the box. The forward took an uncharacteristically low shot that flew off the post and deflected back into the pitch.
But, in the end, his foul did not affect Barça, as soon as the floodgates opened. Raphinha scored his side’s fourth goal of the game, with a stunning strike from the center of the penalty area.
Minutes later, he scored again, this time after a superb assist from Yamal. The Brazilian sent a left-footed volley towards the goalkeeper who did everything possible to prevent it from reaching the bottom of the net, but missed and allowed Barça to go 5-1 ahead.
The game was over before Villarreal had a real chance to respond, allowing Barca to walk away with three points and a big win on the road.
GK: Marc-Andre ter Stegen – 5/10 – He did well to prevent Villarreal from scoring a second goal before the break, but was injured in the process. Ter Stegen’s early tackles were unremarkable, but his efforts to keep the home crowd quiet in the first half did not go unnoticed.
RB: Jules Kounde – 7/10 – Kounde, once again, has been exceptional on the right side of the pitch. Its link game with Yamal he proved incredibly useful and was unfortunate not to earn himself a goal.
CB: Sergi Dominguez – 5/10 – He earned a spot in the team with Flick ready to rotate. He often looked out of place, but tried to make contributions when needed.
CB: Inigo Martinez – 5/10 – Another defender who tried to make a difference for his team but was ultimately unlucky in his efforts. He also managed to get by with a few close calls.
LB: Gerard Martin – 6/10 – A better performance came from Martín against Villarreal, who worked hard in possession. He has defended well when isolated on the pitch.
DM: Pablo Torre – 8/10 – Torre put on a real show, creating an argument for Flick to consider him in the starting lineup more often. He won both a goal and an assist and worked hard in the Barça midfield, incredible.
DM: Eric Garcia – 5/10 – Garcia was calm and did not act with too much emotion on the pitch. He made simple passes and helped move the ball, other than that he was not used.
RW: Lamine Yamal – 7/10 – Yamal is a constant, even if he doesn’t score, he shows that he is a threat up and down the pitch. In particular, his assist on Raphinha’s second goal was sensational, almost terrifying.
AM: Peter – 6/10 – Pedri took a little time to grow into the game, but once he did he directed a promising game for Barça. He kept his opponent on his toes by keeping possession.
LW: Raphinha – 9/10 – Raphinha spent most of the first half of the game making sure his teammates were in the right positions to score, but in the second half he wrote his own story – scoring two beautiful goals. A fantastic performance.
ST: Robert Lewandowski – 9/10 – He scored an early brace for Barça and was regretted to miss the penalty to register a third. Regardless, it was an incredible performance from the forward, which is sure to follow this boy
Substitutes
SUB: Inaki Pena (48′ for Ter Stegen) – 6/10
SUB: Marc Casado (59′ for Pedri) – 5/10
SUB: Pau Cubarsi (59′ for Domínguez) – 5/10
SUB: Pau Victor (59′ for Torre) – 6/10
SUB: Hector Fort (81′ for Martínez) – N/A
Subs not used: Guillem Fernandez, Ander Astralaga, Alex Balde, Andreas Cuenca, Ansu Fati, Antonio Fernandez
manager
Hansi Flick – 6/10 – He chose to rotate his squad, especially with the mounting injuries, but proved he made the right decisions to trust his younger players. Another good performance from Flick in the dugout.
