Villarreal de Liga: chronicle, result and goals

It was a match that can change the course of the season. A trip meant continuing to bleed and lose points, masochistically hurting yourself, cutting your skin. But Lewandowski’s laugh, which sounds like something out of a toothpaste commercial, lights the way. It is true that the Pole was not successful either in the Champions League or against Madrid, but he has pride and experience. Enough, at least, to pierce the groggy wall through which his teammates then entered to close, before the break, a thrashing that Xavi needed as much as the air he breathes. blessed goals Barça needed them and Villarreal had only conceded three so far in the League. In 45 minutes he received three more. It was his turn to pay for the broken dishes in the matches against Inter and Madrid.

Xavi, after defending him time and time again, was forced to leave Sergio Busquets on the bench. Now, he played another of the eternally discussed veterans, Jordi Alba. And under pressure, the winger gave Lewandowski the first goal. In defense he continues to fail, but in attack no one gives assists like him. Still with losses in defence, Barça suffered a bit at the back, with Marcos Alonso playing central alongside Kounde, as he is a footballer with legs. And Villarreal has a lot of speed to do damage on the counter. Danjouma, in fact, could have changed everything with a clear opening opportunity, but his shot served to further encourage a Barça where one of those who most knew how to take advantage of the opportunity Xavi gave him was Frenkie de Jong. The Dutchman already left good feelings at some moments in Madrid, but against Villarreal he excelled, as if he could be omnipresent, ripping through a lot of bags, running meters vertically when he touched and touching horizontally when he was the most suitable, escorted by Gavi and Pedri.

A game of extremes

Villarreal, very defensive with a 4-4-2 on a complicated day for everyone in the groguet team, since a few hours before the game the news of the death of José Manuel Llaneza, the vice-president of the club and architect of Vila-real’s miracles, could not stop a reborn Barça. The injury of the last games, instead of continuing to hurt spurred a team in which Xavi got it right with the rotations, especially in attack. If anyone had taken advantage of the last minutes of the Bernabéu, it was Ansu Fati and Ferran Torres. And both went past Raphinha and Dembelé. Both were responsible for scoring the third goal, in a play where the Valencian winger finally remembered his version of Manchester City or the first matches at Mestalla, entering from the right with a proud, brave and cheeky pose, breaking belts and gifting Ansu Fati the goal. A moment of beauty, even though the game was already half decided thanks to Lewandowski, who has become Barça’s straw man. Football and spiritually. As if he were a father, he takes care of the young people and shows them the way, but he also creates complicity with Jordi Alba, who gave him the center that he turned into art. To mock Pau Torres and Rulli, he turned on himself, on the ball, as if he were Fred Astaire in a tailcoat. If in the first he was a dancer, in the second he was a boxer, when from outside the area he violently sent the ball into Rulli’s box. Two goals to keep ghosts away. And to get a derailed train back on track.

It was a balmy triumph, against a too scary opponent who every time he tried to go on the attack, ran into an imperial Kounde. Barça needed to be able to relax in a match where not much happened in the second half. Villarreal didn’t want to go out scalded and Barça wanted more partying, but aware that the calendar is moving up and Valverde’s Athletic is coming on Sunday, they didn’t want to put their foot down either. Xavi, in fact, made changes to dose and protect players, and he recovered Héctor Bellerin, who was leaving the injury behind. Little by little, the injured return. Still a little accelerated, still looking for stability, Barça reacted in a stadium where Busquets was respected when he entered, but Piqué was not. They booed him, an unthinkable image not so long ago. At the moment only Ter Stegen and Lewandowski are untouchable. Start and end If Ansu joins in and Pedri rutlla again, Barcelona fans can dream.