Great football, AND three points!
Barça vs Villarreal.
Barça wanted the title and Villarreal wanted to finish in the top 4.
Both teams wanted the win.
Both teams had something to lose.
Who'd walk away with the three points?
First Half:
Kick off.
Both teams showed up with strong starting line-ups hoping to steal a win in the business end of the season.
Villarreal controlled the opening minutes of the game, as they passed the ball around the Barça press, hoping to stamp their authority and set the tone for the game.
The midfield structure which had plagued the Catalans for their entire season was gone too, as the interiors played closer together, allowing Barça to start keeping the ball more comfortably on the overturns.
Sergio Busquets reprised his role as a pseudo-centreback when the fullbacks bombed forward, allowing the defence a passing option to evade Villarreal's press.
Ten minutes had passed by, and neither team had delivered the first blow. Barça were spending plenty of time in the opposition half, but Villarreal showed immense discipline to close passing lanes and maintain their lines.
A moment of chaos for the Blaugrana ensued as Lucas Digne was forced into an error under pressure from former Barça-man Jonathan Dos Santos. The Mexican delivered a ball into the box, but Ivan Rakitic was on hand to keep the danger at bay. Lionel Messi led the counter to that play but was intercepted by a swift flick from Alvaro in the box.
Sergi Roberto collected his fifth yellow, as he clobbered into Soriano from behind as Villarreal broke into a counter.
Alvaro Gonzalez received a yellow of his own, for a foul on Lionel Messi right outside the box. The resulting freekick from Messi was straight at the keeper.
Luis Suarez broke on the counter soon after, as Barça caught Villarreal off-guard. The Uruguayan lobbed the ball to Messi on the left side of the box. With traffic around, Messi's ball found an awaiting Neymar in the middle who finished with a touch to control, and a touch to destroy.
1-0, Barcelona.
The Blaugrana had seized control of the ball and by extension, the game. Despite an organised defence, Barça were managing to find plenty of holes in the Yellow Submarine—it seemed inevitable that the Catalans were due another goal.
Villareal however, had been playing well all this while despite being a goal down, and were rewarded for their patience—Cedric Bakambu punished Barça's high-line, breaking free on the counter, with Gerard Pique chasing his trail. In spite of his best efforts the man in yellow raced past the defender, to calmly finish past Ter Stegen and equalise.
1-1 at the Camp Nou.
Barça retorted with a chance of their own moments later, as Messi delivered a teasing cross from the right wing into the box for an awaiting Pique. The Catalan however, put his header over the bar for a corner.
Not one to stay behind, Soriano sent a ball inside Barça's box, only for Soldado to miss his opportunity. Barça countered immediately with Suarez setting up Neymar for a shot, but the Brazilian's strike drifted wide across the goal—end to end stuff with five minutes left to the first half.
It was Barcelona however who broke the tie and took the lead. Neymar wrestled free from the Villarreal defence, to send the ball into the path of a rushing Lionel Messi. The Argentine dribbled past a couple of yellow shirts before firing his shot through a wall of defenders, past the keeper into the bottom-right corner to give Barça the advantage with the last kick of the first half.
Brilliant stuff from Messi.
2-1, Barcelona.
Second Half:
Villareal kicked off the second half but it was Barça who nearly got the early goal, as Neymar ran past his man towards the byline, but his cut-in for Messi got blocked by Fernandez.
Almost a third goal for Barcelona as Andres Iniesta sent a beautiful through-ball for Digne, who rattled the post with a thunderous strike. Another good opportunity came through the full-back, as he made a run on the left, before cutting the ball in for Luis Suarez; the Frenchman looked great on the night.
An onslaught from Barça began, as Neymar broke free on a run, and sent his shot just wide. Soon after, Messi would crack a shot on goal only for Fernandez to palm the ball away. The game was beginning to look one-sided, with much of the credit going to some fantastic football from the Blaugrana.
The home side were finding plenty of space in the Villarreal defence, only for the final pass or finish to be lacking. The ball almost refused to stay at the feet of a yellow shirt for longer than a few seconds, as Barça dominated possession, with a half hour left on the clock.
Andres Iniesta entered the referee's book with a yellow, for a late challenge on Soriano 30 yards from the Barça goal; JDS took the following free-kick but put it wide.
Barcelona broke free on a counter in a trademark Sergi Roberto run, before he set up Luis Suarez for a goal. The Uruguayan had his work cut out however, as he dribbled past his man, to put a shot at the far post.
3-1, Barcelona.
Soldado received a yellow for a late challenge on Messi, seconds before being taken off for Castillejo in the 71st minute.
Lucas Digne got taken off for Jordi Alba to an applause from the Camp Nou, with fifteen minutes left.
Another moment of chaos arrived for Barça as Bakambu got past Ter Stegen outside the German's box, only for Gerard Pique to intercept and save the day. Javier Mascherano entered the fray for Sergi Roberto, as Musacchio received a yellow for a foul on Neymar.
Barça switched to a three-man back-line, with Jordi Alba switching between midfield and defence.
The referee called for a penalty in favour of the Catalans in the 80th minute, as Suarez's strike struck Costa's flailing arm. Lionel Messi stepped up and put the ball past Fernandez with a cool Paneka.
4-1, Barcelona.
This game was truly done and dusted at this point; Luis Enrique made his final substitution of the game, bringing on Andre Gomes, for Ivan Rakitic with ten minutes on the clock.
The clock ran out after some half chances for Barça and a shot on target for Dos Santos.
An almost perfect game from Barça showed just what Luis Enrique's squad was capable of; Barça played absolutely beautiful football all night long, reminding me of what a good coach Luis Enrique had been for much of his Barça tenure, before it all fell apart this season.
Despite the odds Barça have managed to put pressure on Real Madrid, which can only be a good thing.
Onwards and upwards!
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