The match kicked off with Villarreal looking to keep the team on course for a safe second leg. But it wasn’t long before Barcelona were firmly in control of proceedings, and they extended their lead to 2-0 after just 25 minutes thanks to goals from Suarez and Messi. The scoreline remained unchanged until the 86th minute when Vazquez netted his first goal for Barça following an assist by Neymar. With two vital away goals already under their belts, the Catalan club put themselves into good stead heading into next week’s return at Camp Nou.,
The “villarreal vs barcelona head to head” is a football match between Villarreal and Barcelona. The two teams are currently at the top of La Liga.
After the victory, Barcelona is still in seventh place in LaLiga. Getty Images/AFP/JOSE JORDAN
Barcelona won their second game in a row under Xavi Hernandez, defeating Villarreal 3-1 on Saturday. Memphis Depay and Philippe Coutinho scored late goals to seal Barcelona’s first away victory of the season in LaLiga.
Memphis took advantage of a Villarreal blunder in the 88th minute to round goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli and score, before replacement Coutinho earned and scored a stoppage-time penalty to secure the three points.
Frenkie de Jong had put the visitors ahead in the 48th minute, but Samuel Chukwueze equalized off the bench to set up a tense final 15 minutes.
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Barca are still in seventh position in LaLiga after winning back-to-back league games for the first time this season, but they are now only three points behind the Champions League spots. Villarreal, managed by Unai Emery, remain in 12th place.
“Those are three important points, but it was a tough game,” Xavi stated afterward. “We didn’t have the dominance we anticipated.” We need to improve our ball control. We need to become better. We were quite fortunate. Villarreal had no right to lose.
“This was the least dominating and most deserving of a victory of my three games in charge. We took a lot of punishment in the second half and towards the conclusion of the first. We were unable to play under their pressure. It was quite difficult. It was an excellent day for playing direct.”
Barca got off to a fast start against Villarreal after overcoming Espanyol in Xavi’s first league game in charge last Saturday. In a game filled with confrontations on both ends, Dani Parejo was fortunate to avoid a red card for a second-minute tackle on Sergio Busquets.
In the first half, Abde Ezzalzouli and Gavi, both teenagers, struck the crossbar for the visitors, while Memphis fired wide following superb work by De Jong.
Villarreal had their chances as well, and were disappointed not to be awarded a penalty when Gerard Pique looked to block an Arnaut Danjuma attempt with his hand after an error by Eric Garica.
After the game, Villarreal coach Emery stated, “The officials impacted the outcome.” “Someone will have to explain themselves since it seems that Villarreal is not being treated with respect.”
“The handball of Pique is unmistakable. VAR is a human-run system, and someone must bear responsibility [for the penalty not being given]. Pique extends his hand to block the ball from going in.”
Before goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen was pushed into an outstanding save from Danjuma, the hosts’ Yeremy Pino and Pau Torres both squandered opportunities.
Early in the second half, Barca finally broke through when De Jong tapped in from close range after Jordi Alba had crossed. The goal was first disallowed due to offside, but VAR overturned the ruling.
Villarreal’s Danjuma fired wide as they sought an equalizer, and they had another penalty appeal denied down as Garcia fought with Raul Albiol before ultimately tying the game. Chukwueze tapped home after Barca threw the ball away from their own throw-in.
From there, Villarreal seemed to be the more probable victors, but Memphis showed amazing control to round Rulli and roll home his ninth goal of the season before Coutinho came on to make it three from the penalty spot.
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The “villarreal vs barcelona prediction” is a football match that will take place on Wednesday, December 12th. The match-up is between Villarreal and Barcelona.
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