The sixth day of La Liga offered us a clash between the two teams in form at the start of the championship. At home, Villarreal (11 points, 3 wins, 2 draws), challenged FC Barcelona, leader before the match thanks to a perfect run (15 points, 5 wins). Both teams therefore had to win to confirm their fine start to the run. For the Catalans, this match was also intended to serve as a way to regain confidence after a defeat against AS Monaco on Thursday (2-1) in their first Champions League match. With a team decimated by injuries, Hansi Flick had to compose tonight, without Gavi, Frenkie De Jong, Andreas Christensen, Ronald Araujo, or Dani Olmo. In total, eight Blaugrana were missing for this match. Which did not prevent his men from starting the match rather well. It was first Barça who took the initiative. Thanks to a nice exchange of short passes, Raphinha was found with his head on a cross (4th), but Diego Conde made a good save to push back his attempt. A little in the hard in the first minutes, Villarreal recovered very quickly.
Yeremy Pino, author of a magnificent sequence, lobbed the opposing goalkeeper with his right foot and thought he had opened the scoring (8th). Unfortunately for him, the video assistance signalled him offside. A few minutes later, it was Nicolas Pepe’s turn to try his luck with a heavy strike, which forced ter Stegen to make a huge save. Throughout the first half, the two teams traded blows. Then, it was Barcelona who scored the first goal. Robert Lewandowski, who received the ball from Pablo Torre in the Villarreal area, sent a nice strike towards the right of the goal (20th, 0-1), leaving the goalkeeper no chance. The Pole almost doubled the lead on the half-hour mark with a shot from the bottom left of the goal, but Diego Conde, attentive, managed to deflect the shot (28th). Lewandowski kept his attacking efforts going and finally scored his double with a right-footed overhead kick (35th, 2-0).
Villarreal has fallen, Barça has taken off
The Yellow Submarine’s response was not long in coming, however. Former Lille player Nicolas Pepe, who was on his feet during the match, managed to send the ball to Ayoze Perez who reduced the gap (38th, 1-2). Shortly before the end of the period, Pepe, alone on a counterattack, came up against the Barcelona goalkeeper (40th) and missed a chance to get back into the game before the break. Barcelona finished the period with the lead, but lost their goalkeeper, who suffered a fairly serious knee injury when he fell. After the break, it was Villarreal who took the initiative straight away. Pepe, more motivated than ever, shot three times at goal and even scored a superb goal, which was flagged offside by VAR (48th).
Despite their fighting spirit, Marcelino’s men quickly paid for their missed opportunities. Barcelona pulled away in the 58th minute of play, following a great sequence of passes from Pablo Torre, who had already provided a pass for Robert Lewandowski. A successful first start for the young midfielder. The Blaugrana could have had the chance to take off on the hour mark, after Eric Bailly fouled Lamine Yamal in the box. However, Robert Lewandowski failed to convert the penalty, his attempt crashing against the left post (68th). This miss had little effect on the final momentum of the match, which remained on the Barcelona side. Raphinha finished off the Yellows in the 75th minute (4-1) with a powerful ball into the net to the left of the goalkeeper. Rebelote in the 83rd minute, where Raphinha once again scored a goal (5-1), on a superb pass from the outside of Lamine Yamal’s foot. This first defeat for Villarreal this season, temporarily removes them from the podium. The Groguets occupy 5th place with 11 points. For its part, Barcelona, and its six victories in six days, still points to the first place in the championship at the end of the match, with 18 points.
