Barcelona cruised to a huge 5-1 victory away against Villarreal on Sunday to retain their position atop of the La Liga table.
The Catalan giants were once again unstoppable as they fired five goals past Villarreal’s defence to guarantee yet another win, just days after their Champions League defeat to Monaco on Thursday.
Hansi Flick’s side sit on 18 points, four clear of fierce rivals Real Madrid and five ahead of Atletico Madrid.
How the game unfolded
It was the hosts who leaped into the game, earning a chance early on as Ayoze Perez delivered a lob finish into the back of the net. His efforts were quickly nullified by the assistant referee’s flag, while Barcelona took a sigh of relief and regathered themselves to push on.
The Catalan giants took the opening threat as motivation to get onto the ball. Lamine Yamal came close to earning the first goal of the game, firing a beautiful shot towards the top left corner before it bounced off the post.
Robert Lewandowski wasted no time in gifting Barca a lead, however, tapping in a clever shot thanks to a sneaky pass from Pablo Torre. The Spanish midfielder disguised his assist to slide the ball towards Lewandowski, who took full advantage of Diego Conde’s position away from goal to put his side 1-0 ahead.
Yamal and Jules Kounde attempted to double Barca’s lead as they unleashed their chemistry down the right wing. They were unable to earn anything from their efforts, but just minutes later Lewandowski swung the ball into the back of the net – earning a brace and throwing Barca into the lead once again.
Villarreal raced back into the game as Perez finally got the chance to etch his name onto the scoresheet after his early chance. He hammered a strike with his right foot to earn his fourth goal of the season and hand the hosts a lifeline.
Just ahead of the break, Barca faced a major blow as Marc-Andre ter Stegen fell to the ground in agony. The shot stopper pedalled backwards in his attempt to gather the ball in the air, landing awkwardly before being stretchered off the pitch.
He was replaced by Inaki Pena – who was handed his first league appearance since February.
When play resumed, it was Barca once again who dictated the pace. This time, it was Pablo Torre who strengthened his side’s lead firing a shot towards the box that reached the back of the net after it deflected off of Logan Costa.
Lewandowski was handed the chance to earn himself a hat-trick when he stepped up to take a Barca penalty after Yamal…
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