In a pulsating encounter Villarreal and Barcelona shared the points at El Madrigal after a 2-2 draw.
Goals from Ivan Rakitic and Neymar in the first-half, added with a Cedric Bakambu strike and and own goal from Jeremy Mathieu in the second, means that the home side would stop Barcelona’s winning streak just shy of 10 matches.
Rakitic opened the scoring for the visitors is the 20th minute. A lifted free-kick from Lionel Messi was bravely stopped by a flying Sergio Asenjo, but the ball found the feet of the Croatian who would side foot home.
The second would come just before the break and not without controversy. A counter-attack from Barcelona would see Messi release Neymar and as Asenjo dived at the feet of the Brazilian and looked to claim the ball before the man, referee Jose Sanchez would point to the penalty spot. A dink from Neymar down the middle would see the teams head to the break at 2-0.
The home side would come out the better in the second-half and pulled one back in the 57th. Bruno played in Denis Suarezm, who burst through the Barcelona defence and unleashed a shot on goal. Claudio Bravo palmed the ball away but Bakambu was on hand to tap home to get his team back in the contest.
62 minutes in and the game was level.With Villarreal pilling all sorts of pressure on the away team, a corner. whipped in by Suarez took a deft touch from Roberto Soldado onto Mathieu and it unfortunately bounced into his own net.
Fans were on the edge of their seats in the closing moments of the game, as Villarreal had a free-kick in a dangerous area but Barcelona cleared and the referee blew the whistle.
Both sides will be happy with a point as it extends the Catalans’ lead to nine points at the top of the table, while Villarreal solidify their position in fourth.
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Formations
Marcelino was forced into one big change from midweek as first choice goalkeeper Alphonse Areola was sidelined with the flu. Asenjo took his spot for his first La Liga start of the season. Surprisingly the home side went with a more attacking lineup, as Manu Trigueros partnered Bruno in midfield and Castillejo and Suarez featured on the wings.
Villarreal XI (4-4-2): Asenjo; Rukavina, Bailly, Ruiz, Mario; Suarez, Bruno, Trigueros, Castillejo; Bakambu, Soldado
Luis Enrique was without Andres Iniesta before the match and thus brought Arda Turan into the midfield with Sergio Busquets and Rakitic. Sergi Roberto started at right-back with the league’s top scoring trident of Suarez, Neymar and Messi starting up top.
Barcelona XI (4-3-3): Bravo, Alba, Pique, Mascherano, Roberto; Turan, Busquets, Rakitic; Messi, Suarez, Neymar
Substitutions Prove Barca’s Undoing
The first-half was Barcelona at their flowing best. Although Suarez had a quiet game all round, Neymar and Messi sparkled as the away side bore down on the Yellow Submarine.
Defensively the visitors looked solid as well, giving away few opportunities with Turan and Busquets breaking up play well. Little needed changing in the second-half as the goal just before half time seemed to take the wind out of Villarreal’s sails.
Luis Enrique then made some questionable substitutions and the game was spun on its head.
The Barca coach removed Gerard Pique who, although lucky to still be on the field thanks to the referee missing a clear handball while he was on a yellow card, had enjoyed a solid half. In his place came Jeremy Mathieu, who took 10 minutes to get into the match.
As well as the Frenchman, Enrique removed Turan for Dani Alves, moving Roberto into the midfield, and suddenly the away side lacked balance. Alves could take some blame for the first goal having not done enough to shut down Soldado as the move started, while Mathieu was at fault for the second.
The Messi position
In the annals of football history there have been many styles of play that have been attributed to certain players. Think the ‘Makelele Position’, but this was a demonstration of one such role that may not ever be able to be copied.
Leo Messi starts the game as a right-winger but rarely stays there. He drifts inward, playing behind Suarez and in front of his midfield, while Neymar keeps his width on the left.
Messi plays all over the park for his team and while it may be said that he can only do that because of his sublime talent, much credit must go to his fellow players and his manager for setting this team around him.
The reasoning behind his free position is his range of passing. While he will always be credited for his immense goal scoring record and his assists, Messi shows a talent for the pass that rivals any of his teammates.
While this is not his main talent at this point in his career, as the years go by look for him to slide further down the pitch as he will likely end his time in a midfield capacity.
Soldado drops deep
Many of the plaudits in this game will go to Suarez, Bakambu and Castillejo, but for the home side it was Roberto Soldado who shone brightest and his movement off the ball allowed so much to happen for the hosts.
Soldado sat deeper in his role as the second striker, allowing both Bakambu more room up forward and Bruno to sit deeper in the midfield.
His positioning was crucial to allowing Bakambu and the wingers to break at pace and hit Barcelona on the counter attack.
Much has been made about Soldado’s lack of goals in recent years. but he has become so much more than a scoring forward at Villarreal. His time at El Madrigal has been more about his movement than it has about his goals, and with Bakambu taking the lead it has not needed to be solely focused on his tally.
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