Barcelona’s Defensive Woes: Villarreal Inflicts 5-3 Defeat Despite Blaugrana’s Spirited Comeback

Having witnessed Real Madrid’s victory in Las Palmas just before the Barcelona-Villarreal clash, the Blaugrana couldn’t afford a misstep, considering their aspirations for a league comeback in the coming weeks. Despite staging a comeback from a 0-2 deficit, Barcelona’s notorious defensive frailty proved costly. Moreno and Akhomach found the net before Gündogan, Pedri, and an own goal by Bailly orchestrated a promising comeback. However, Guedes dampened Barcelona’s spirits, and in injury time, defensive blunders led to Sorloth’s 3-4 in the 99th minute and Morales’ 3-5 in the 102nd minute. A disaster.

Inevitably condemned to suffer, Barcelona endured a game dictated by emotional impulses. After a lackluster first half, Barcelona injected energy into the game out of necessity. Despite gifting a 0-2 lead, they cornered Villarreal and mounted a comeback. However, Villarreal regained control, particularly after Marcelino made conservative changes, withdrawing key players Moreno and Akhomach. The inexplicable collapse of Barcelona in the final stages of the match defied easy explanation.

Xavi, mindful of the physical exertion in the previous game against Athletic Bilbao just days ago, made strategic changes. Oriol Romeu and Joao Félix returned to the lineup, providing a spark in recent matches, while Pedri and Ferran Torres were rested, with Cancelo entering in the second half.

Until the first minute of the game elapsed, the fans at Montjuïc, witnessing one of the season’s best attendances, couldn’t breathe easy, given Barcelona’s habit of conceding early goals. Villarreal initially pressed high but gradually cooled off, allowing Lamine Yamal to showcase his skills, tormenting his marker Alberto Moreno and contributing defensively with great intensity. This tilted the game in favor of Barcelona. Lamine tested Jörgensen with a left-footed shot from outside the box, while Joao Félix responded shortly after from the opposite flank. Villarreal maintained a disciplined 4-4-2, moving cohesively without losing composure, waiting for the right moment to regain possession and counter-attack.

Villarreal sought reward, especially through former Barcelona player Ilias, who faced off against Héctor Fort, his former youth teammate. Indeed, they found it when Gerard Moreno scored, but Munuera Montero disallowed the goal (the second, as an offside goal had already been flagged) in confusing circumstances. There was a potential foul by Álex Baena on Koundé, but the reason for disallowing the goal was an offside position by Sorloth. Although not directly involved in the play, Sorloth had obstructed Araujo, preventing him from contesting the ball.

However, Gerard Moreno’s customary goal against Barcelona eventually arrived through a throw-in play after a transition phase. Alberto Moreno launched the ball, reaching Sorloth, who cut inside, eluded Oriol Romeu, and assisted Moreno. The striker’s left-footed shot found the net without direct opposition.

Faced with the familiar task of mounting a comeback, Xavi responded with three substitutions. One, replacing Héctor Fort with Cancelo, could be deemed planned, while the others were not: Oriol Romeu and Christensen appeared culpable for the 0-1 situation. Romeu was beaten by Sorloth, and Christensen neglected his defensive duties while marking Moreno. Pedri’s introduction injected a glimmer of light, connecting with Lamine Yamal, still Barcelona’s most dangerous player. The only one, in fact, until Ferran entered, immediately testing Jörgensen with his first involvement.

Incredibly, when Barcelona needed to shake up the game, they did so but in the wrong direction, gifting another goal. A long ball from the goalkeeper that Cancelo cleared poorly left Ilias Akhomach unmarked. The Hostalets de Pierola native faced Iñaki Peña, dribbled past him, and scored an empty-net goal against his former team. As a gesture to the fans (having debuted in the first team under Xavi), he refrained from celebrating the goal. Despite this setback, Barcelona didn’t lose face and reacted.

FROM COMEBACK TO DISASTER

Not even six minutes had passed when Ferran delivered a pass to Lewandowski, who touched it to Gündogan. With the Villarreal defense lacking conviction, the German midfielder struck a dry shot, making it 1-2. Shortly after, with Barcelona mentally on the rise, Villarreal crumbled to a 2-2 scoreline. Another play by Lamine Yamal led to Pedri’s shot after Gündogan’s attempt.

Two minutes after the equalizer, the comeback was complete. Gündogan’s ball was inadvertently turned into an own goal by Bailly, amid Villarreal’s defensive disarray during Barcelona’s most potent moments, buoyed by the goals.

After the comeback, Vitor Roque made his home debut, and shortly after entering, he had his first chance, assisted by Gündogan. Then came the disaster. Jörgensen, despite conceding three goals, kept Villarreal in contention and denied the Brazilian’s celebration. Guedes leveled the score again with his power in a lightning-fast counter. The VAR ruled out a penalty for handball in Villarreal’s box, and, in the dying moments with the team morally shattered, Sorloth capitalized on defensive errors, and Morales sealed the humiliation with the fifth goal.

Match Stats:

• FC Barcelona: Iñaki Peña (-); Koundé (-), Araujo (1), Christensen (-) (Cubarsí (2), 46’), Héctor Fort (1) (Cancelo (-), 46’); De Jong (2), Romeu (1) (Pedri (2), 46’), Gündogan (2); Lamine Yamal (3), Lewandowski (1) (Vitor Roque (-), 77’), Joao Félix (1) (Ferran (2), 59’)
• Villarreal CF: Jörgensen (2); Kiko Femenia (1) (Mosquera (2), 78’), Bailly (1), Cuenca (2), Alberto Moreno (1) (Capoue (2), 70’); Ilias Akhomach (2) (Guedes (), 58’), Santi (1), Coquelin (1), Álex Baena (1) (Mandi (2), 70’); Gerard Moreno (3) (Morales (3), 78’), Sorloth (3)

Goals:

• 0-1, Gerard Moreno, 41’
• 0-2, Ilias Akhomach, 54’
• 1-2, Gündogan, 60’
• 2-2, Pedri, 68’
• 3-2, Araujo, 70’
• 3-3, Guedes, 84’
• 3-