Villarreal 0 Barcelona 2: Eight in A Row! Barcelona See off Tricky Submarines To End The Year on a High
In the end, it was far more comfortable than it should have been, like a slump into a sofa made of straw grass.
In keeping with tradition, Barcelona struggled against an organized man-to-man press. This time it was Marcelino’s well-oiled pressing gears that caused Barcelona issues in the build-up. But after Raphinha converted a stonewall penalty for 1-0 after he was brought down by Comesana, that goal settled the Blue and Reds’ frayed nerves and gave them something to hold onto against a Villarreal team that is playing Jekyll and Hyde football in the league and Champions League this season. As Genaro Gattuso would say, sometimes maybe good (in the league), sometimes maybe shit (in the Champions League and Copa Del Rey).
Villarreal is one of the best transition teams in the league, and their transitions caused Barcelona massive worries. It was, in short, a first half played on edge by Barcelona, whose tenuous lead increasingly looked precarious. Only God knows how the second half would have gone for Barca had Renato Veiga not been given an, admittedly harsh, red card for a late tackle on Lamine Yamal that left the 18-year-old limping for a while.
The second half saw Barcelona, while far from cruising through the match, be much more compact and dominant with the ball than they had been in the first half. But Villarreal still threatened, but they were wasteful with the clear-cut chances they got. And also, they were up against Joan Garcia, whose limbs appear to grow longer with each match, and his physique becomes ever more menacing for opposing teams.
It was his save that prevented Barcelona from conceding an equalizer in that first half from a Balde error to keep out Buchanan’s shot. Midway through the second half, he stopped a certain goal after Mikautadze raced onto a through pass that cut through Barcelona like a scapel. He then rose quickly to stop Rafa Marin’s rebound with an instinctive, strong parry that a volleyball middle blocker would be proud of.
This was far from a classic performance from both teams in a fixture that guarantees goals. One can imagine that with Christmas four days away, the players possibly had mentally checked out, their focus turned north, awaiting the familiar red nose of Rudolf and the sight of Santa’s red and white coat to kick off the Christmas celebration after a long, draining year where even the most diehard football hooligans cried to the heavens, ‘There's too much football!’
Not to say that both teams showed little fight. Despite being down to ten men, Villarreal still punched just as good as they got, finishing the match the stronger of the two sides. So, it was a competitive affair, alright. But one could see that the teams simply wanted this to be over for them to get a well-deserved mid-season break.
Barca’s Standout Players
Frenkie De Jong and Eric Garcia in that first half looked like two irritating twins butting heads at the center of the pack without Pedri, but De Jong had a much-improved second half. Balde, after his error that almost cost Barcelona, also played better in the second half. Meanwhile, Lamine Yamal sprinkled some of his stardust throughout the game, at times threatening to take on the entire Villarreal defense.
His goal, Barca’s dagger, came off a bizarre sequence of play, but it was a truly absurd finish of a uniquely talented player. It started when Rashford pinged a pant-wetting, slick pass to the right, perfectly onto Yamal’s left foot. The prodigy shuffled his feet and ghosted between Villarreal's bodies before his attempted shot found its way to De Jong, who mishit his first-time shot.
The ball fell to Lewandowski, who, surrounded by Villareal defenders, slid the ball back to De Jong. De Jong touched the ball to Yamal, who was now central. He took a touch and toe-poked the ball almost casually to the back of the net, through Rafa Marin’s legs and beyond the reach of the outstretched arms of Luiz Junior. It was a finish so chill, you would think he was having a kickabout with friends at Rocafonda.
That second goal settled the nerves of the tentative Catalan side. Still, despite being at a man disadvantage and two goals down, essentially on the ground battered and bleeding, Villarreal refused to bow, posing threat after threat with their, at times, astonishingly fast counter attacks, for which Barcelona were grateful that Joan Garcia was on guard with his devilishly large frame and Wandering Albatross-like wingspan to thwart any shots that Villareal managed to get goalward. Honestly, it was brain-scratchingly absurd just how he managed to repel every single shot that Villareal sent his way.
With this win, Barcelona moves back to four points ahead of Real Madrid, sitting pretty at the top with 46 points. The Blaugrana go into the winter break at ease. As Santa’s sleigh begins its midnight shifts delivering end-of-year goodies and punishments all across the globe, Culers from all walks of life will open their gifts with contented hearts and peaceful minds. A season that threatened to unravel is now starting to bloom like a winter flower, and a team that looked disjointed early in the season begins to caramelize into a beautiful, tasty tin of somewhat cohesive sugary goodness. Mmmm…
Merry Christmas, Culers! See you on the other side of the sun to continue gorging ourselves in this sugary goodness.
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