Villarreal 2-2 Barcelona: Five talking points

Messi couldn’t influence the game  muchVillarreal gave a spirited performance in the second half as they fought back from 2-0 down to draw 2-2 against Barcelona. The Catalans started the game on the backfoot but took the lead with their first shot on target after a fortunate ricochet in the box led to Ivan Rakitic scoring into an open net.Neymar then won a penalty just before half-time which he calmly slotted into the back of the net. That should have been game over but Villarreal scored twice in five minutes in the second half, first through Cedric Bokambu and then with a sloppy own goal from Jeremy Mathieu. The draw meant Barcelona extended their lead to 9 points over Atletico Madrid who lost on Saturday.

#1 Barcelona\'s see-saw form from the penalty spot continues

Barcelona’s penalty record has been woeful this season. The Catalans have managed to somehow squander several penalty opportunities this campaign. Their usual penalty taker has been Lionel Messi but having missed his last one against Getafe in their previous game he let Neymar take it.

The Brazilian kept a cool head to put the ball straight down the middle to give Barcelona a 2-0 lead. But he paused for a while before he took it. It just goes to show how low on confidence the team have been from the spot.

Barcelona have won 16 penalties this term the most by a single team in La Liga since the 98/99 season but have only converted about half of them. Neymar has won the most penalties compared to any other player in the top 5 leagues in 2015/16

Barcelona have been almost perfect but while Messi, Suarez and Neymar have been scoring spectacular goals this season it is hard to believe they are so inconsistent from 12 yards.