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Villarreal held Barcelona to a 4-4 draw in the La Liga in what was a thriller of a match. For Villarreal, the goals were scored by Samuel Chukwueze, Karl Toko Ekambi, Vicente Iborra and Carlos Bacca. For Barcelona, the goals were scored by Phillippe Coutinho, Malcom, Lionel Messi and Luis Suarez.
The first half saw Barcelona dominating with the ball and creating chances. Coutinho gave the Blaugrana an early lead after he tapped in Malcom's cross. Minutes later, Malcom scored with a header to take a 2-0 lead against Villarreal.
Villareal came back into the match after Chukwueze tapped in his rebounded shot. Both teams had opportunities in the first half, but Barcelona would have been disappointed to let Villarreal back into the game.
The second half started with a bang as Ekambi equalized for the home side, and 10 minutes later, Iborra put Villarreal 3-2 in front to complete the comeback.
It seemed like Carlos Bacca's goal 10 minutes from time had sealed the victory for the home side, but Messi and Suarez had other ideas as they scored two brilliant goals to snatch a draw from the jaws of defeat.
This win meant that Barcelona sit eight points clear at the top of La Liga, while Villarreal still still find themselves in midst of the relegation battle. This match was a story of two comebacks and in this slideshow we discuss the five players who were brilliant for Barcelona on the day.
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#5 Arturo Vidal
During the early parts of this season, Arturo Vidal wasn't featuring much for Barcelona, but for the last couple of months, the Chilean has been immense for the Blaugrana in the middle of the park, and he has excellent against Villarreal as well.
He provided a brilliant cross for Barcelona's second goal which was headed in by Malcom. He was the best midfielder for Barcelona on the pitch and his hard work off the ball was a highlight of this match. Vidal has upped his game recently and that is a good sign for the Camp Nou faithfuls.
#4 Phillipe Coutinho
Philippe Coutinho has been criticised for much of the season by the Barcelona fans as he hasn't been up to the mark and very inconsistent with his performances. To be fair, it wasn't one of Coutinho's vintage displays against Villarreal, but it was good performance relatively, considering his recent form.
He opened the scoring for Barcelona after he tapped in Malcom's cross. Coutinho was at the right place at the right time for Barcelona's opener and he looked very lively for the start of the game, but he faded away as the match went on and was substituted for Messi around the 60th-minute mark.
#3 Lionel Messi
The little Argentine didn't start this game and he was brought for Coutinho for the last 30 minutes. Messi did what he has been doing all season for Barcelona as he instigated the late comeback by the Blaugrana scoring the third goal for Ernesto Valverde's men.
It was another free-kick goal as he has been making it a habit of scoring from set-pieces. This goal takes Messi's tally to 32 goals in the La Liga with nobody close to him in the race for the Golden Shoe. Messi has been absolutely brilliant for Barcelona this season and he would be looking forward to the match against Atletico Madrid on Sunday.
#2 Luis Suarez
Luis Suarez didn't start the game very well as he looked a bit tired and jaded, but he grew into the match as the proceedings went on. The Uruguayan hasn't been at his best in the last couple of weeks for Barcelona, but he put in a shift against Villarreal.
He scored the goal which completed the comeback for Barcelona and it was one hell of a strike, with his left foot even. From a Barcelona corner, the ball came to Suarez at the edge of the box and the Uruguayan pounced on the loose ball with a low drive into the back of the net.
Suarez needs to keep his form up as Barcelona welcome Atletico Madrid on Sunday.
#1 Malcom
Malcom had his best performance in a Barcelona shirt since joining from Bordeaux this season. It was a brilliant performance from the Brazilian, and he has been looking in terrific form since the last couple of weeks.
He assisted Barcelona's first goal which was scored by Coutinho and he turned scorer for Barcelona's second after he headed in Vidal's brilliant cross.
The young Brazilian with this performance might have sealed his place for the starting XI against Atletico Madrid on Sunday, and that would be fully deserved.
