Villarreal 1-4 Barcelona: Blaugrana bounce back from Champions League upset in style

A virtuoso performance by Xavi ensures Barca remain in the driver’s seat in La Liga

Barcelona’s character was under examination as they look to bounce back from the disappointment of their Champions League exit in midweek. And despite having to endure a nervous opening against Villarreal where they could have gone two goals down, Pep Guardiola’s troops sauntered to a comfortable win thanks to first half gems from Lionel Messi, Xavi and Bojan Krkic, before the Argentine struck again late in the game after the hosts had pulled one back through Joseba Llorente.

The Blaugrana went on the attack early on and after just two minutes, an excellent cut-back by Maxwell found Bojan, who laid it off for Xavi but the playmaker’s first time effort was deflected out by Gonzalo.

Just a minute later, Villarreal should have gone infront. Victor Valdes charged out of his box to hack a loose ball away but his poor clearance almost handed Nilmar an open-goal opportunity, but the Brazilian’s chip from 20 yards out just dropped over the bar.

Barcelona responded straight away when Messi dinked a lovely chip on the edge of the box in between two defenders towards goal, but Diego Lopez tipped it over the bar at full stretch. The end-to-end action continued and on seven minutes, Nilmar had another glorious chance when he latched onto a Cani through ball but with only Valdes to beat, he blazed his shot just well over.

Clear cut openings started to dry up after that but both teams kept up the frantic tempo with their quick and slick passing. But just as the Yellow Submarine were starting to enjoy a nice spell of possession, Barca stunned them by taking the lead on 18 minutes. Xavi flicked in the most effortless of through balls to Messi, who turned past Diego Godin and rifled in a deflected low drive past Diego Lopez at the near post.

Villarreal struggled to respond as the Catalan giants began to dominate proceedings in that familiar style of theirs. And they doubled their lead on 34 minutes when Xavi arrowed in a pin-point curling freekick from 20 yards out straight into his top right corner, leaving a sprawling Diego Lopez with no chance.

The hosts were completely deprived of any chances infront of goal while the Blaugrana grew stronger with every attack. And on 41 minutes, they made it 3-0 with another magical goal. Xavi again was involved as he threaded a long through pass to Bojan, who flicked the ball past Gonzalo one side and rounded him the other, galloped into the box and drilled a cross-shot past a hapless Diego Lopez.

A tame low shot by Ariel Ibagaza which sailed horribly wide was all Villarreal could muster to end a first half which they began with much promise.

Juan Carlos Garrido made a double substitution at the break, sending in Joseba Llorente and midfield general Marcos Senna. With nothing to lose, El Submarino went all out in the early stages of the restart, and it almost paid off. Santi Cazorla’s centre right across the face of goal was headed out by Dani Alves before it could reach Llorente at the back post. And from the ensuing corner, Cazorla pounced on a weak punch by Valdes, but the winger’s soft half volley was saved by the Barca shot-stopper.

Senna’s presence in midfield gave Villarreal more steel and organisation and on 67 minutes, they finally managed to breach the Barca backline. Nilmar released Llorente through on goal with a diagonal defence-splitting pass and the substitute stabbed his shot past an on-rushing Valdes.

Another poor clearance from Valdes almost presented the hosts with another opportunity, but neither Cazorla nor Nilmar managed to take advantage. Straight to the other end, Diego Lopez was forced into an excellent low save to parry away Pedro’s stinging shot and moments later, Bojan blasted a one-on-one effort just wide after being put through by Pedro.

But with three minutes left on the clock, Messi put the icing on the cake as he made it 4-1. A clever one-two between Dani Alves and Xavi allowed the Brazilian right-back to skip down the right flank and square the ball to Little Lionel, who made no mistakes with a simple finish past Diego Lopez.

It was Messi’s 29th La Liga goal this season and his 42nd in all competitions as Barcelona restored their four-goal buffer at the top of the table over Real Madrid, who take on Osasuna on Sunday evening.