Villarreal 4-4 Barcelona
The El Madrigal played host to one of the wildest matches of this year’s La Liga season as Villarreal and Barcelona played out a pulsating 4-4 draw.
Barca looked on course for another comfortable win after two early goals, but a furious Villarreal comeback saw the hosts 4-2 up with just minutes remaining.
However, Lionel Messi was on hand to spoil the Yellow Submarine’s party. Messi came on as a second-half substitute and sparked a remarkable rally in the final minutes as Barca were able to rescue a point.
Our SBOBET tips sort of hinted at the possibility of Villarreal forcing a Barca slip-up in this match. But you’d be hard-pressed to find any La Liga 2019 betting tips for that match that predicted an eight-goal thriller.
Highlights of the game
With big matches against Atletico Madrid and Manchester United coming up, Barcelona manager Ernesto Valverde elected to start with both Messi and Gerard Pique on the bench against Villarreal. But even without their talisman, Barca got off to a terrific start.
They got their opening goal in the 12th minute after Sergi Roberto released Malcom on the right wing. The Brazilian, who was getting the rare start in place of Messi, calmly squared the ball to compatriot Philippe Coutinho, who poked the ball into the net.
Just a couple minutes later, it was Malcom’s turn to score as he expertly headed an Arturo Vidal cross from the edge of the box across Villarreal keeper Sergio Asenjo’s goal.
Coutinho should have added another goal in the 19th minute after a well-worked Barca counter-attack. But his attempt to chip Asenjo went just wide.
That miss proved costly as Villarreal pulled a goal back through Samuel Chukwueze. The teenager’s initial shot came off the post, but he was able to grab the rebound and slot it past Marc-Andre ter Stegen.
Villarreal then equalized five minutes after half-time through Karl Toko Ekambi. With ter Stegen expecting the Villarreal striker to cross, he was completely caught out as Toko Ekambi suddenly sent the ball sailing past his near post and into the net.
Messi finally came on just after the hour mark, and he was greeted by another Villarreal goal as Vicente Iborra put the hosts ahead.
The Yellow Submarine struck again in the 80th minute. Santi Cazorla sent Carlos Bacca sent clear through on goal, and the Colombian striker calmly rounded ter Stegen to double Villarreal’s lead.
However, Villarreal’s ability to hang onto their advantage in the final few minutes took a huge blow after defender Alvaro was sent off for a second yellow card. And so it proved that the hosts were unable to weather the inevitable storm after going one man down.
Just like in the Catalan Derby, Messi scored another outstanding free-kick at the edge of the penalty area. And in the 3rd minute of stoppage time, Luis Suarez sank Yellow Submarine hearts as he drilled a shot into the corner to score the dramatic equalizer.
Without a doubt, this match will go down as one of the most memorable La Liga 2019 results of the season given how it all played out.
Key statistics
With their draw at Villarreal, Barcelona’s seven-match winning streak finally came to an end. However, they are still 15 matches unbeaten in all competitions. They also extended their unbeaten streak in La Liga to 18 matches, with their last loss coming against Betis in November.
As for Messi, his brilliance continues. He’s now scored 12 goals in his last eight matches for Barcelona in all competitions, as well as in 14 of the last 16 La Liga matches, which is remarkable.
Pope Francis recently came out and said Messi “is not God,” which is true. But he’s just so good sometimes that you still kind of wonder if he actually is.
On the other side, this game was the first time that Villarreal had scored four goals in a La Liga match all season. They had scored three goals on three previous occasions.
What’s next?
Barcelona’s next league assignment will be at home against second-placed Atletico Madrid this weekend. Atleti kept their faint title hopes alive by beating Girona 2-0, which reduced Barcelona’s lead atop the table to eight points with eight matches remaining. They will need to beat Barca at the Camp Nou if they stand any chance of overtaking the champions.
Meanwhile, Villarreal next face Real Betis as they look to secure their La Liga status for next season. Their draw against Barca put them two points clear of Celta Vigo, who still have a game in hand.
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