Barcelona won 5-1 at Villarreal in the sixth round of LaLiga without much difficulty, making up for Thursday’s defeat at Monaco. Robert Lewandowski, who scored two goals, had the biggest share in the triumph, but in the second half he refused the opportunity to complete a hat trick from a penalty kick. The Catalans, however, did not have to regret the failure of the Polish gunner, because even after the final whistle they remained one hundred percent in the domestic league.
Both teams showed an interest in a quick goal from the beginning of the match. Yeremy Pino was the first to threaten when he sent the visitors’ defense a warning after some great work on the ball, but Marc-André ter Stegen was undaunted by his effort. The hosts continued to be active and Ter Stegen had to save Barca from Nicolas Pépé’s effort. On the other hand, Lamin Yamala and Pedri also failed to break the tie.
In the 20th minute, the most skilled player, Lewandowski, made his mark, unerringly finishing Pablo Torre’s through pass from the first. Diego Conde subsequently dealt brilliantly with another dangerous attempt by the Polish star. But Lewandowski was not discouraged and tried his luck again. It happened after Conde headed Eric García straight to Lewandowski, who without much difficulty gave the Catalans a two-goal lead. Just three minutes later, Villarreal reduced the deficit when Pépé raced past the defense and laid the ball past Ayoz Pérez, who beat Ter Stegen. He prevented Pépé from equalizing before the break, but he had to withdraw due to injury after the subsequent corner. The German goalkeeper was replaced by Iňaki Peňa.
In a chaotic start to the second half, Pépé’s goal was disallowed for offside. Villarreal then conceded a third when Torre’s shot from the edge of the penalty area deflected off Logan Costa and into the bottom corner of the net. Shortly after, Eric Bailly fouled Yamal in the box, but Lewandowski only hit the post from the penalty spot.
Raphinha then calmed his team down for good when he scored with the help of the flowing Bailly. Eight minutes later, the Brazilian struck again following Yamal’s superb pass to give Barcelona a warm welcome after their Champions League loss in Monaco. The Blaugranas won the sixth duel in this year’s league season without much difficulty, while the Yellow Submarine, on the other hand, left as a defeated team for the first time.
