Barcelona 3-5 Villarreal: 5 hits and flops as Blaugrana's title defense suffers another blow after loss in wild match | La Liga 2023-24
Barcelona were beaten 5-3 by Villarreal in a riveting La Liga clash on Saturday as their title defense suffered a significant blow, with Xavi announcing his departure at the end of the season.
The Blaugrana trailed 2-0 at one point in the game, but turned the match around with quickfire goals to lead 3-2, only to concede thrice more and crash to a shock defeat.
Villarreal had started the match brightly and even saw two goals ruled out for offside. Those were warning signs of things to come, but the Catalans didn't pay heed and paid the price in the 41st minute.
Gerard Moreno broke the deadlock with a fearsome shot inside the box just before the break. Nine minutes into the second half, former Barca player Ilias Akhomach doubled their advantage on the break, pouncing on a sloppy clearance from Joao Cancelo.
A defeat seemed inevitable for the hosts, but they managed to turn the match around in 11 crazy minutes. Ilkay Gundogan pulled one back in the 60th minute before Pedri equalized in the 68th. An own goal from Eric Bailly made it 3-2 as the Spanish champions led for the first time in the match.
However, there were more twists to come.
Goncalo Guedes made it 3-3 in the 84th minute with a lovely finish from another clinical break, while a mistake at the back from Ronald Araujo allowed Alexander Sorloth to fire in their fourth, deep in stoppage time.
More misery was to follow for Barca in the 102nd minute as Jose Morales put the final nail in their coffin with another sumptuous finish, as the home side's defense was in tatters again.
With 44 points from 21 games, Barcelona are 10 behind leaders Real Madrid as the prospects of a titleless campaign are becoming real with every passing week.
Here are the five hits and flops from the match:
Hit: Alexander Sorloth (Villarreal)
Alexander Sorloth tormented Barcelona on the night with his rapid movements and devastating clinicality as the Norwegian scored a goal and made two assists to play an instrumental role in their memorable win.
He assisted Gerard Moreno for the opener with a lovely cut-back for him inside the box through two Barca defenders, before repeating the trick later on for their third goal. After fulfilling his assist duties, Sorloth turned scorer himself in stoppage time, putting Villarreal 4-3 up with a scrappy finish as the hosts sloppily conceded possession inside the box.
Flop: Ronald Araujo (Barcelona)
Barcelona's defense was in complete sixes and sevens on the night, with no communication among the defenders, and an abhorrent lack of positional awareness in all of them. Even then, Ronald Araujo stood out like a sore thumb, which really says something.
The Uruguayan was a mere spectator as Sorloth cut the ball to Moreno to fire their opener, despite being within inches of him. He was also nowhere to be seen when Villarreal hit them on the break for their second goal, and if that wasn't enough, Araujo gifted them the fourth.
Paul Cubarsi cleared Etienne Capoue's shot away and the ball went to Frenkie de Jong. The Dutchman instead squared it to Araujo, who sloppily gave the ball to Capoue, who stood right in front of him. Capoue passed it for Sorloth to make it 4-3 at the death.
It was a horrendous performance from Araujo.
Flop: Joao Cancelo (Barcelona)
It's not too often that you see a player of Joao Cancelo's ilk being deemed a 'flop', but the former Manchester City ace was truly disappointing on the night. In fact, he later admitted himself that it was "one of the worst" games of his career.
Brought into the match at the start of the second half to beef up Barcelona's shaky defense, Cancelo did anything but. The Portuguese star was well off the pace and left acres of space in behind the defense.
What set the tone for his disastrous evening was a glaring mistake on the break in the 53rd minute. Cancelo's attempted clearance was poor and Ilias Akhomach's feet pranced forward to connect with the loose ball before rounding Inaki Pena to bundle it home.
Flop: Xavi (Barcelona)
Xavi was heralded as the man to rebuild Barcelona when he was appointed as their head coach in November 2021. Although the Spaniard took some time to bring the best out of his players, he successfully guided them back to La Liga glory last year.
Bigger things were supposed to follow this season, with the Catalans starting their title defense by going unbeaten in their first 10 games. But lately, some crazy results have completely derailed their campaign in the blink of an eye.
Humiliating losses to Real Madrid and Athletic Bilbao in the Spanish Supercup and Copa del Rey respectively ended Barcelona's hopes of winning a domestic cup this season. Following last night's insane result, the Blaugrana are trailing Los Blancos by 10 points in the league.
Xavi's fears of another titleless campaign are being realized now. Even though he wouldn't have been sacked by the club, the former midfield maestro knows he's clearly failed in his objectives, and hence announced his departure.
This was not the way fans expected Xavi to leave.
Hit: Goncalo Guedes (Villarreal)
Goncalo Guedes was making only his second appearance for Villarreal since joining on loan from Premier League side Wolverhampton Wanderers. He came off the bench in the 58th minute and registered a goal and an assist for his first pair of contributions for the club.
He opened his account for the Yellow Submarine in the 84th minute with a lovely finish in the bottom corner after brilliantly controlling an inch-perfect cross from Sorloth. Then in the 12th minute of added time, Guedes turned provider for Morales, squaring the ball after another scathing run on the right for the latter to finish the job.