Villarreal lose against the league leaders in a match where fortune evades them and three goals were ruled out
Villarreal did everything they had to do to get a good result against FC Barcelona. But it was not to be. Three goals disallowed for offside and two deflected goals for the visitors settled the outcome of a fiercely contested match with plenty of chances. An ode to the footballing show that ended up unjustly punishing the Submarine, who stood up to the leaders and, although they deserved much more, ended up losing by a resounding 1-5 scoreline.
To face Barça, Marcelino brought in Nicolas Pepe, Yeremy Pino and Eric Bailly in the Submarine’s eleven. Three changes from the team that won the game in Mallorca (1-2).
The Groguets came into the game with a strong start. In the eight minute, Villarreal scored a goal that would not go on the scoreboard due to offside. In an unlawful position, Yeremy received a pass into space from Álex Baena. Showing his class, the winger controlled exquisitely and with a lob beat Ter Stegen.
Just five minutes later, Villarreal were back on the attack. This time with a fantastic run by Nicolas Pepe, who could not be stopped by the Culés’ defenders. The Ivorian striker made a fantastic run into the box and tested the reflexes of Ter Stegen, who made an excellent save. The rebound fell to Baena, who, somewhat forced, failed to find the target with his cross-shot.
To halt Marcelino’s team’s good start, the away side relied on the quality of Lamine Yamal. The Spanish forward hit the post with a shot from the edge of the box. From the corner of the box and almost static. Impressive. The rebound fell to Raphinha and his shot was saved by Logan Costa, who was quick on his feet.
Before the 20th minute, Lewandowski gave Barça the lead at La Cerámica. With one touch, the Pole sent Pablo Torre’s pass into space from the edge of the area into the back of the net. Diego Conde could do nothing.
With the lead on the scoreboard, Barça settled into the game and began to accumulate long possessions in the opposition half in succession. Lamine Yamal channelled the danger for Hansi Flick’s side. Meanwhile, Marcelino’s side were looking to attack the spaces with speed and precision, trying to surprise the back of the Culés’ defenders.
In one such attempt, Ayoze had the chance to equalise. Yeremy attacked the space, Ter Stegen came out on the cross and the ball was split on the edge of the area. The striker took the ball and tried to poke it over the top, but the ball went high.
Things were not going well for the Submarine, while luck was smiling on their opponents. FC Barcelona went two goals up when Lamine Yamal’s cross was met at the far post by Eric, only for Diego Conde to parry the rebound. The rebound fell to Robert Lewandowski and he scored the second.
The game was going against Villarreal’s interests. But there was still a long way to go. Baena knew this and slipped a fantastic pass in the direction of Pepe. The ‘19’ ran, unstoppable, into space, and passed for Ayoze to score the 1-2. The Groguets pulled one back before the break in a game with a lot of pace and chances.
Again before half-time, Pepe had a clear one-on-one with Ter Stegen, who beat him with a save to prevent the equaliser. Then, from the corner, the FC Barcelona goalkeeper himself suffered a bad fall and had to be substituted.
In the first half, FC Barcelona ended up asking for half-time. With time added on, Ayoze had another chance to equalise. He failed to connect with an exceptional cross into the box from Sergi Cardona. It was 1-2 at half-time. Although the Yellows, with an end to the first half full of chances, deserved much more.
The second half started with a lot of controversy and Villarreal were back on the attack. Pepe scored the second for the Yellows, but the refereeing team disallowed it for a millimetre offside, unnoticeable in real time. The decision of the referees set the crowd alight. Amidst the well-deserved anger in the stands at La Cerámica, Yeremy hit the post with a header.
The game was going crazy. Order gave way to transitions, space and miscontrol. In one of these attacks, Barça scored the third. With Pablo Torre’s shot from the edge of the area, which Bailly unluckily deflected wide, the visitors made it 1-3.
That goal was particularly painful for the Submarine, who had come close to an equaliser and certainly deserved it for what they had shown on the pitch. It was to be even more painful when, shortly afterwards, the VAR intervened to point to a penalty by Bailly on Lamine Yamal. Lewandowski had everything in his favour to make it 1-4 and kill the game. But he sent his spot-kick around the post.
It wasn’t all said and done at La Ceramica. But it was definitely not Villarreal’s day. For the third time in the match, the referee disallowed a goal for the Submarine. This time from Barry, with a header, for an offside in which again you had to throw the lines to appreciate it. What bad luck.
In the 75th minute, and as in the third goal, Raphinha made it 1-4 with a shot that bounced off a defender and deflected the trajectory. Shortly before the end, Barcelona’s Brazilian striker scored again with a first-time finish from Yamal’s pass on a counter-attack.
