Barcelona 4 Villareal 1
The day belongs to Lamine Yamal. It’s crazy to think that Lamine Yamal is still only 18 years old prdoucing world class performance after world class performance but here we are waxing lyrical yet again as he puts on a masterclass at the Camp Nou. You’re always going to get entertainment when you watch Barcelona but it wasn’t until the 27th minute when Fermin Lopez played Yamal through who finished past Luiz Junior to put Barcelona 1-0 up, just 10 minutes later Yamal got his second which was the pick of the bunch as he dribbled past two Villareal defenders on the right before blasting a curler straight into the top corner to put Barcelona 2-0 up. Villareal did manage to pull one back just after half-time from a corner which bobbled about eventually falling to Pape Gueye who had an easy finish to get Villareal back into the game. Barcelona then subbed on Pedri in the 60th minute who played a ridiculous ball to put Yamal through on goal who finished beautifully past Junior to put Barca 3-1 up in the 69th minute, Lewandowski got Barca’s fourth after Pedri played Kounde through who squared to Lewandowski to put a nice seal on the game in the 91st minute.
A pleasure to watch Yamal today. I plead to anyone reading please try to watch more Barcelona games when you can as they by far the most entertaining team to watch in Europe at the minute even when Yamal isn’t playing like he did today, there’s been times this season when he’s looked off the pace whether its injury or fatigue but he was dynamite today. I felt sorry for Sergi Cordona who had the task at left-back to try and stop Yamal today and he really stood no chance as everything he touched seem to come of in one way or another especially in front of goal. It’s scary to think what Yamal’s final form is going to look at in the next few years if Barcelona look after him and give him the proper recovery time and support a young player needs, especially seeing as he’s already struggled with a few injuries so far this season. Here’s hoping he continues to shine on the world stage for next decade or so.
Wrong gameplan cost Villareal. I think Villareal found out just how dangerous playing a high line is against this Barcelona side and Yamal took full advantage of it for two of his goals today, the third one in particular was a bad goal to concede regardless of Pedri’s insane pass were Villareal played a Barca esque offside trap which kept Yamal onside and clean through on goal. I was particularly impressed with Papa Gueye in Villareal’s midfield who has looked a real player throughout the season with Villareal and with Senegal in the AFCON last month scoring the winner in the final against Morocco in extra-time, he’s a proper defensive-midfielder and I wouldn’t be surprised if he got a big move in the summer based on the form he’s shown this season for club and country.
Pedri back at just the right time for Barcelona. For me he’s by some distance Barcelona’s most important player and he showed his class from the bench today playing an integral part in the third and fourth goals that sealed the game for Barcelona, the injury concerns are very real for Pedri who has just come back from a month long injury but Hansi Flick will be hoping he’s fit for the rest of the season as Barca look to retain the title and win the Champions League for the first time since 2015. I don’t think it’s a stretch to call Pedri the best midfielder in the world and he showed just why in that 30 minute cameo from the bench today.
The gap is back to 4 points. Real Madrid can close that gap back to 1 point on Monday against Getafe with their game in hand and we have a gripping title race this year in Spain. Barcelona ended up running away with the title last year and although Real have sacked Xabi Alonso this season the gap has never really gotten too out of hand for Real Madrid who were top of the table before the loss to Osasuna last week. Any little slip up from both sides lets the other one go top so it’ll be important for both sides to keep up form as we head towards the business part of the season, the next El Clasico in La Liga is in May so we have a long ways to go before that potential title decider. We could see a Copa Del Rey El Clasico before then but Barcelona would need to overturn a 4 goal defecit against Atletico Madrid this week at Camp Nou, unlikely but if there was a team to do it it would be this Barcelona side at home. No doubt Diego Simeone will do all he can to stop Barcelona scoring early in particular but I suppose we’ll wait and see what happens on Tuesday as Barca look to pull of the impossible comeback.