Villarreal fall to Barcelona after playing more than half an hour with a man down
Villarreal stood up tall to the league leaders, but ended up falling to FC Barcelona (0-2) in a match full of misfortune for the Yellows. Semedo had to abandon the pitch due to injury at the start of the second half, then Raba was sent off in the 60th minute. After that, the Submarine had to play more than half an hour with one player less and could not keep the Barcelona storm at bay, Luis Suárez and Leo Messi netting for the visitors.
Javi Calleja set up with a surprisingly different lineup and formation. Sergio Asenjo started in goal and Ruben Semedo came in as a defensive midfielder for the Yellow Submarine. Barcelona kicked things off quickly, having the first chance of the game in the opening minutes, but the Yellows were saved by the woodwork. Villarreal responded straight away though, Soriano testing Ter Stegen with an acrobatic volley in the box, but the Barcelona keeper made a fine stretching save.
Then, in the second half the game became an uphill task early on. Ruben Semedo had to leave the field of play in the 47th minute due to injury and Dani Raba was awarded a straight red for a foul on Sergio Busquets in the 60th minute. The Submarine then played over half an hour with ten men and that is a lot to ask against Barcelona. Almost an eternity. Calleja changed things up by putting Rukavina on for Soriano. It was time to suffer. In fact, Luis Suárez hit the post before he opened the scoring moments later.
The Uruguayan took advantage of some quick passing play by Messi and Paco Alcácer to dribble around Asenjo and pass the ball into an open goal (0-1, m. 71). The Submarine played for their pride and went in search of the equaliser. Trigueros and Rodri tried their luck from long range, but both of their efforts finsing the gloves of Ter Stegen. Barcelona then sentenced the match with their second in the 82nd minute. Messi went through one on one against Asenjo and cooly struck the ball past the Yellows goalkeeper. A harsh punishment.
Lineups:
Villarreal CF: Asenjo: Mario, Álvaro, Víctor Ruiz, Jaume Costa; Trigueros, R. Semedo (Samu Castillejo, m. 47), Rodrigo, Soriano (Rukavina, m. 63); Raba and Bakambu.
FC Barcelona: Ter Stegen; Sergi Roberto, Piqué, Vermaelen, Jordi Alba; Rakitic, Paulinho (Aleix Vidal, m. 67), Sergio Busquets (André Gomes, m. 85), Denis Suárez (Paco Alcácer, m. 57); Messi and Luis Suárez.
Goals: 0-1. Min. 71: Luis Suárez. 0-2. Min. 82: Messi.
Referee: De Burgos Bengoetxea. Cautioned: Bakambu and Álvaro for Villarreal; Sergio Busquets. Sent off: Raba (m. 60) for Villarreal.
Match Information: Match corresponding to Matchday 15 in the LaLiga Santander played at the Estadio de la Cerámica in front of 21,087 spectators.
