Barcelona entertained Villarreal at the Nou Camp earlier this evening as they looked to secure a positive result in La Liga. The Catalan club made a slow start to the game and conceded the opening goal in the 41st minute when Gerard Moreno scored for the visitors. Xavi’s men went into the half-time break 1-0 down on the scoreline.
Ilias Akhomach doubled Villarreal’s advantage in the 54th minute. However, Ilkay Gundogan got a goal back for Barca just six minutes later before Pedri equalised in the 68th minute. Eric Bailly scored an unfortunate own goal just three minutes later which put Barca 3-2 up on the scoreline.
However, the visitors equalised in the 84th minute thanks to Goncalo Guedes’ effort. Alexander Sorloth managed to put Villarreal ahead in the ninth minute of injury time before Jose Morales killed the game off in the dying embers of the contest. The match finished with Barcelona suffering a disappointing 5-3 loss in front of their home fans.
Let’s take a look at how each Barcelona player performed during the clash against Villarreal.
GK: Inaki Pena – 5/10
Pena made one decent save at the back but conceded five goals during the game.
RB: Jules Kounde – 6/10
He earned the ball back twice and had some bright moments in the opponent’s half.
CB: Ronald Araujo – 5/10
Araujo was far from convincing when defending inside his half and won’t be pleased about conceding five goals this evening.
CB: Andreas Christensen – 6/10
He did his best to keep things solid on the defensive end of the field in the first half but was replaced at half-time.
LB: Hector Fort – 6/10
He struggled to get into the flow of the game and was replaced at half-time.
CM: Ilkay Gundogan – 8.5/10
Gundogan made a lot of key chances for his teammates and has got a goal and an assist to show for his efforts.
CM: Orio Romeu – 6/10
He offered decent protection for his backline and was replaced at the half-time break.
CM: Frenkie de Jong – 6.5/10
De Jong back came to defend when he could but struggled to influence the game in the final third.
RW: Lamine Yamal – 8.5/10
Yamal caused all sorts of chaos inside the Villarreal half and did everything but score today.
ST: Robert Lewandowski – 6.5/10
He caused a few problems for the opposition defenders and ended the game with an assist to his name.
LW: Joao Felix – 6/10
Felix struggled to get into the flow of the game and was substituted in the 57th minute.
Substitutes:
LB: Joao Cancelo – 5.5/10
He looked shaky at the back.
CB: Pau Cubarsi – 6/10
Cubarsi had a tough second half.
CM: Pedri – 7.5/10
The Spaniard came off the bench and scored a good goal in the 68th minute.
LW: Ferran Torres – 6/10
His impact on the game was minimal.
ST: Vitor Roque – N/A
