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Barcelona ran riot against a poor Villarreal side to win 4-1 at Camp Nou and go top of the La Liga table. Neymar and Luis Suarez grabbed one goal each to complement Lionel Messi’s brace after Cedrick Bakambu levelled the game in the first half.
The Catalans are at the top of the table but Real Madrid still have that all-important game in hand. Here are five talking points from Barcelona’s dominant win over Villarreal.
#1 Neymar’s contributions have been vital
The game started as a back and forth cagey battle with both sides struggling to get any rhythm going. Rakitic and Suarez often attacked the same space and even lost the ball by running into each other on one instance.
Villarreal showed their goal threat on the counter after soaking up a lot of the initial Barcelona pressure. However, the Blaugrana opened the scoring when Lionel Messi’s miscued shot found its way to Neymar who just about beat the offside trap to toe poke it into the back of the net.
Villarreal’s tight defending until then was undone and Neymar would go on to have a good game, tantalising the away side’s back line. The Brazilian has scored just 16 goals this season but his strikes have been vital to his side.
The 25-year-old has scored important goals when his side needed them and his overall gameplay and assists have helped Barcelona’s attack this campaign as they look to win the league and salvage their season.
#2 Bakambu continues his great form as Barcelona’s defensive errors persist
Cedric Bakambu was in-form prior to the game having scored six goals in five appearances and naturally, he warranted a start. He threatened the defence with his physicality early on and soon after Barcelona equalised, Bakambu was sent through on goal from a Villarreal counter attack.
The Congolese striker did well to hold off Pique before scoring past an onrushing ter Stegen. It was a well-deserved goal for Villarreal and the away side had put their best chance in front of goal into the back of the net early on to level the game.
The goal exposed Barcelona’s frailties at the back as Bakambu was easily allowed to go 1v1 and score. It was poor defending from the Blaugrana back line that led Bakambu to beat the offside trap and score.
It’s not just right-back that is a problem for Barcelona, their centre-backs seem to be making critical mistakes in their positioning and tackling which has led Barcelona to concede 34 goals in 36 La Liga games, averaging almost a goal every game. Defences win titles more often than attacks and Barcelona don’t even feature in the top two defences in La Liga at the moment.
#3 100-goal milestone for MSN
A couple of quick moves resulted in Gerard Pique missing a gaping goal from five yards out from a Lionel Messi cross. However, Barcelona kept surging forward and Messi finally put his side ahead after some sustained pressure.
The Argentine picked up the ball and ran across the Villarreal back four, evading players with ease. He then took a shot from just outside the box which took a wicked deflection off Villarreal’s Mario to end up in the goal.
That marked a milestone for MSN as Messi’s goal brought the attacking trio’s goal tally for the season to 100. The Argentine maestro has scored 50 of them. It marked a huge achievement for Messi and Barcelona’s attack as a whole in a season where they haven’t had much joy in the Champions League and the La Liga.
#4 Andres Fernandez’s goalkeeping error and Fran Escriba’s bad tactics
On a Barcelona counter-attack, Sergi Roberto found Luis Suarez who turned two Villarreal defenders inside out in the box, and the Uruguayan rifled a shot at Andres Fernandez in goal.
The goalkeeper’s handling and positioning were awful and his weak palm could not prevent the ball from hitting the back of the net. It was a clear goalkeeping blunder that sank any hope of a Villarreal comeback as Barcelona went 3-1 up.
This was Suarez’s 35th goal of the season and despite carving out the chance for himself with his trickery, the goalkeeper Fernandez was clearly at fault.
Fran Escriba’s 4-4-2 formation had no answer to Barcelona’s 4-3-3 and the midfield battle was won by the Blaugrana The Villareal midfield was over-run by Barcelona and perhaps if the manager had crowded the midfield with three in centre, they would have stood a better chance of getting something out of the game.
It was a glaring tactical error that proved crucial in determining the outcome of the game and left Villareal exposed to Barcelona’s deadly attack. The scoreline was still tight at 2-1 but his tactics failed and Villareal lost the game in the end.
#5 The need for video referees highlighted again
Jaume Costa was harshly ruled to have handled in the box from Luis Suarez's shot and Messi coolly dinked the ball with a panenka from the spot to complete the rout on the night. It was a bad decision and perhaps if there was a video-referee the decision could have gone Villareal’s way.
It was a case of yet another incident that will come under the microscope of the officials and possibly increase the chances of video referees using technology to make the right decisions. However, it was Barcelona’s quality in attack proved to be decisive in the game as Villarreal’s game plan of keeping it tight at the back was undone by MSN’s attacking prowess.
Messi, Suarez and Neymar were top notch again and they took their chances when they came instead of snatching at them. The trio has led Barcelona from the front to give them the best goal difference in the league at 74, beating to Real Madrid’s 57 by some distance. If Barcelona do lift the La Liga title, they’ll have their attack to thank.
