Barcelona continued their winning streak with a 2-0 win against Villarreal on Sunday, their eighth straight La Liga victory. The game was played at Villarreal’s Estadio de la Ceramica. With this win, the Catalan giants went atop the league table, ending four points clear of their arch-rivals and nearest challengers, Real Madrid. Following this victory, Barcelona goes into the winter recess with confidence before league play resumes in early January.
The Brazilian winger Raphinha was pivotal in establishing the mood early on in the match by earning a penalty. He coolly slotted it home to give Barcelona a 1-0 lead. His performance lit up a match that Flick passionately defended him in front of the media just days ago. This followed on the heels of him getting passed over for FIFA’s ‘The Best’ team of the year. Raphinha’s early goal not only put Barcelona ahead but showcased his ability to respond to criticism on the pitch.
During second half stoppage time, Barca would make it 2-0 through a goal that started with some chaos in the area. Frenkie de Jong set up 18-year-old Lamine Yamal, who got the ball after a scrum and scored to pretty much put the match away for his side. This goal demonstrated the immense quality in Barcelona’s squad as Yamal has been on an absolute tear to start his young career.
Villarreal’s situation worsened as Renato Veiga received a red card before halftime for a late lunge on Yamal, reducing his team to ten men. Villarreal showed remarkable fortitude even with a man down. They produced a ton of big scoring chances, but they had trouble converting those opportunities into goals.
Dani Parejo, Villarreal’s captain, was quick to recognize the tendency of his squad while earning the pride after their show on heavyweights, Tottenham.
“It feels like everything is going against us at the moment; teams are scoring against us with not much, but we are pleased with the image we have shown, how we played with 10 men against a great team. We showed great attitude.” – Dani Parejo
Barcelona’s backline was equally impressive over the course of the match, with rookie keeper Joan Garcia making clutch stops to help secure the clean sheet. His performances have been nothing short of massive, helping them achieve their third straight clean sheet in all competitions.
As encouraging as Wednesday’s performance was, there were plenty of negatives for Barcelona to contend with from the match. This was compounded by defender Jules Kounde leaving the pitch with injury, further adding to Flick’s defensive headaches. This follows Andreas Christensen’s diagnosis of a partially torn knee ligament.
Speaking after the match, de Jong was clearly pleased with his team’s performance and their goals to prepare for the league resumption.
“We had loads of really good chances; we could have been more than one goal up at halftime,” – Dani Parejo
Beyond that, he wrote, was the sense of superiority he enjoyed throughout the game.
“But I felt out there on the pitch that we were superior. Not necessarily comfortable, but I think we deserved to win.” – Frenkie de Jong
That means Barcelona will finished 2026 in better form than Real Madrid, despite the fact that Madrid won 3-1 against Sevilla on Saturday. Worries still hover as they head into their next test in the new year.
