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Xavi’s debut season as Barcelona manager ended on a bitter note, with the Blaugrana succumbing to a 2-0 defeat to Villarreal at the Camp Nou on Sunday night, 22 May.
Heading into the final game of the 2021-22 La Liga season, second-placed Barca did not have anything to play for. Villarreal, on the other hand, were fighting for a place in the Europa Conference League. The gulf in determination and desire ultimately shone through, with the Yellow Submarine registering their first league win over Barca in just over 15 years.
As expected, the Blaugrana started the game on the front foot, dominating possession and passing the ball with commendable ease. Their pressing, too, was on point for the most part, but their man-marking system saw them leave plenty of space behind for Villarreal to exploit.
Four minutes before the half-time break, Daniel Parejo made the most of the space behind Barca’s high line to play Alfonso Pedraza through. He calmly brought down Parejo’s lofted through ball and comfortably put his left-footed strike past Marc-Andre ter Stegen. Just before the half-time whistle, Ferran Torres came close to equalizing for the hosts. His right-footed volley was brilliant but Villarreal successfully dealt with it to keep their slender lead intact.
Ten minutes into the second half, Villarreal doubled their advantage. Capitalizing on a mistake from Adama Traore, Moi Gomez steadied himself in front of Ter Stegen and emphatically found the roof of the net.
Frenkie de Jong then found the back of the net in the 73rd minute, but his goal was rightfully ruled out for offside. Three minutes later, Ousmane Dembele carved open an opportunity, but his left-footed strike could not trouble Villarreal keeper Geronimo Rulli.
Barca rarely made inroads into the opposition third in the final stretch of the match and reluctantly settled for a defeat against an efficient Villarreal.
On that note, here are five Barcelona players who disappointed in their final La Liga 2021-22 game on Sunday night:
#5 Riqui Puig
Introduced in Gavi’s place for the final 20 minutes of the match, Riqui Puig had a chance to win Xavi’s confidence with a spirited performance.
Unfortunately, the youngster crumbled under the pressure of expectations and overcomplicated things whenever he had the ball. Had the 22-year-old not been so eager to do it all by himself at the Camp Nou, he could have been a better ally to his teammates.
In his cameo, he played 21 accurate passes, lost two of his three ground duels, and ceded possession seven times.
A pretty underwhelming outing from the talented Spaniard.
#4 Clement Lenglet
Clement Lenglet started alongside Ronald Araujo at the heart of Barcelona's defense against Villarreal. The Frenchman showed nerves over the course of the match and came up second best in most duels.
In the first half, he almost gifted the visitors a goal when he underhit his pass to Sergio Busquets. Luckily for him, Dani Parejo could not make the most of the loose ball.
In the final league match of the season, Lenglet lost eight of his 13 attempted duels, ceded possession nine times, and committed two fouls.
He also failed to make himself big during corner kicks, making it easy for Villarreal defenders to deal with him.
#3 Gavi
Xavi fielded a midfield three of Frenkie de Jong, Sergio Busquets, and Gavi in Barcelona’s final match of the 2021-22 campaign.
While De Jong and Busquets did their jobs well, Gavi was well below his usual standards. He lost the duels, did not threaten Villarreal with his creativity, and gave possession away quite a few times.
On Sunday night, Gavi only had one shot that, too, off-target, lost all four duels and ceded possession six times.
He also committed a silly foul on Giovani Lo Celso in the first half, for which he was booked.
#2 Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang
Since joining the club from Arsenal on a free transfer in January, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has been an integral member of Xavi’s Barcelona.
The veteran forward has scored 11 times in La Liga, emerging as the Blaugrana’s most efficient forward. The 32-year-old had the opportunity to end the season on a high by celebrating a goal in front of the Camp Nou crowd on Sunday. Things, unfortunately, did not go as planned for him.
Villarreal did a number on the former Arsenal captain and nullified his threat for as long as he was present on the pitch.
Against the Champions League semi-finalists, Aubameyang only completed six passes, had no shots on target, and lost possession thrice.
He was finally taken off for Ansu Fati in the 57th minute.
#1 Adama Traore
Having joined the Blaugrana on loan from Wolverhampton Wanderers in January, Adama Traore has not exactly covered himself in glory over the last few months.
Yes, he has had a few commendable outings, but those have been few and far between. Last night was another instance of him falling short and fumbling his lines.
Traore played a part in both of Villarreal’s goals. In the first half, he failed to track back and allowed Pedraza to fire the visitors in front. In the second half, he did cover for Dani Alves and intercepted Manuel Trigueros’ pass to Pedraza. His clearance, however, was poor and went straight to Gomez, who converted emphatically from close range.
Traore also did not have a single shot on target, misplaced all five of his crosses and ceded possession nine times.
A disappointing shift by the Wolverhampton loanee, who was replaced by Ousmane Dembele in the 57th minute.
