Barcelona 3-1 vs. Villarreal: Lionel Messi Sinks Villarreal at Camp Nou
Villarreal gave a tough time to hosts Barcelona in their Spanish La Liga match, but Lionel Messi made all the difference in the end. Messi scored twice to give Barcelona a 3-1 lead over the visitors. This victory also took the
Catalan giants on top of the table, temporarily, as Madrid would be facing Sporting Gijon on Sunday.
Villarreal is doing great in this season of the La Liga, as they were sitting in third position with a difference of two points from Barcelona. On the other hand, the Catalans were not showing good form in their home fixtures,
as they have already lost one and drawn another at Camp Nou. The match was in no way a one-sided affair, as Villarreal had the capabilities to create upsets.
Pep Guardiola, the coach of Barcelona, had to face some problems in his defence. His usual centre-back, Gerard Pique, was missing the match due to suspension, after picking up a red card last week. Also, his substitution, Gabriel
Milito, was also sidelined after picking up an injury during the last week. Therefore, Eric Abidal was given the centre-back role, instead of his usual full-back position. Apart from him, not a single player was missing from Barcelona’s squad, as Guardiola
did not want to take any chances ahead of this important match.
Villarreal also had no problems in their team, as the usual players made it into the starting line-up. It was a strong team, with the attack led by Nilmar and Giuseppe Rossi. However, Marcos Senna was sitting on the bench, as Cani
was given a start instead of him. Nevertheless, there was a great balance in Villarreal’s squad and they looked real threatening against Barcelona.
Barcelona took their time to adjust in the game, as the first real threat came after 13 minutes. However, Diego Lopez cleared the header to deny Lionel Messi a goal. On the other side of the pitch, Barcelona looked vulnerable.
Nilmar and Rossi were threatening Barcelona’s backline. The real problems were faced on the right-hand-side, as Dani Alves rarely showed himself at the back. On the contrary, he was playing on the other side of the half-line, his newfound role in the Brazilian
squad.
The first goal for Barcelona came in the 22nd minute, as Andres Iniesta gave a great pass to David Villa. The Spanish striker finished the ball calmly to give his team the lead. A few minutes later, Lionel Messi and
Pedro were involved in a great move, but the resulting goal was denied because it was ruled offside. In reality, it was a poor call by the linesman, as Messi was clearly onside and behind the last defender.
This bad referee call did haunt Barcelona more than what they expected. Villarreal took advantage of the opportunity and hit Barcelona on the break. The final ball fell to the feet of Nilmar, who made no mistake and levelled the
match for his team. The first half ended on this score-line, but Barcelona looked shaky in defence, as Villarreal had more opportunities to take a lead before the break.
Barcelona had some chances in the second half as well. Xavi had a few opportunities of scoring on free-kicks but he missed by inches. Also, Villa had a couple of penalty shouts, but he was also denied by the referee. The next goal
came in the 58th minute, and Lionel Messi was the scorer. Xavi took a quick free-kick from 25 yards out, giving the pass to Messi. The Argentinean then had a quick one-two with Pedro, curling the ball beautifully over the head of the goalkeeper
in the end.
In the 83rd minute, Messi scored another goal to ensure victory for Barcelona. The shot was taken by Pedro, which deflected and fell into Messi’s feet, who deflected the ball into the net. This was another controversial
moment, as Messi looked offside as the shot was made by Pedro. In the end, Barcelona won comfortably, going on top of the table. This result will also boost their confidence ahead of their clash against Real Madrid in two weeks’ time.
Tags: