La Liga 2016/17, Barcelona 4-1 Villarreal: 5 Talking Points

#2 Bakambu continues his great form as Barcelona’s defensive errors persist

Bakambu (R) countinued his good goal-scoring form

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.