Barcelona 5-1 Villarreal: 5 talking points
Goals: Philippe Coutinho 11'; Paulinho 16'; Lionel Messi 45'; Nicola Sansone 54'; Ousmane Dembele 87', 90+3'
La Liga Champions Barcelona welcomed Villarreal to the Camp Nou as they intended to keep their undefeated league record intact.
The Yellow submarines, on the other hand, are looking to qualify for the Europa League. A win at the Camp Nou would seal them a place in the European competition.
Ernesto Valverde has made a plethora of changes to his side for the mid-week home game. Luis Suarez and Jordi Alba were among those rested for the clash.
There were quite a few changes in the traveling side as well. Pablo Fornals and Jaume Costa were handed a start.
Without much ado, let’s take a look at the key talking points from the game.
#5 It was all Barcelona in the first 30 minutes
Barcelona dominated the game and the possession in the first 30 minutes. At the half-hour mark, the home team had 78% of possession compared to the visitors 28%.
They also scored twice within the first 16 minutes.
Philippe Coutinho made it 1-0 in the 11th minute. He scored from close range after Sergio Asenjo failed to hold onto Ousmane Dembele’s long-range effort.
Barcelona doubled the lead within the next five minutes.
Handed a rare start, Paulinho made it 2-0 in the 16th minute. Iniesta was the architect as he threaded a lovely through-ball to Lucas Digne.
The left-back found Paulinho in front of goal and the Brazilian slotted it into the right corner.