Barcelona vs Villareal : A look at past encounters

This coming Sunday, Barcelona kick off their La Liga campaign as they face fierce rivals Villareal CF. The match is scheduled to take place at the Nou Camp, with a start time of 9pm CET. In this article, we shall be taking a look at the past encounters and exciting matches between both clubs, as Barcelona aim to start their campaign on the right track vs Villarreal. And we’re not talking about the great win in last July.

Villareal 4-4 Barcelona. 2/04/19

As recently as 2019, Villareal and Barcelona had a spectacular match which ended 4-4 at the Estadio de la Ceramica. Phillipe Coutinho had opened the scoring in the 12^th minute, with a tap in assisted by Brazilian winger, Malcolm. Just 4 minutes later, Malcolm appeared again to score the second goal of the game, with a brilliant header across the wide post. With the blaugranas leading 2-0 however, Villareal eventually evened the score. Goals came  from both Chukwueze in the 23^rd minute and Ekambi in the 50^th  minute.

Furthermore, they then took a 4-2 lead, with goals coming from Spanish International Iborra in the 62^nd minute and Carlos Bacca in the 80^th. With the blaugranas looking done and defeated, in the 86^th  minute however, Gonzalez received a red card. This gave the blaugranas a lifeline, as Villarreal were now down to 10 men. This is exactly what occurred, as Messi then produced a magical free kick which brought the Catalans back into the game. It was not until the 93^rd minute however, when Luis Suarez sealed the draw, scoring a beautiful goal from outside the penalty area.

Barcelona 5-1 Villareal. 9/05/18

This match was more one sided however, with the home team comfortably taking a 5-1 victory. New signing Coutinho had opened the scoring with an 11^th minute goal. After a shot was blocked by Ousmane Dembele, the Brazilian was there to capitalise on the rebound and make it 1-0. Minutes later, fellow Brazilian Paulinho also made it 2-0. After Coutinho cut in on the right, a simple direct pass made to Paulinho had secured the second goal, bringing the blaugranas to a comfortable first 20 mins.

Before the end of the first half, Messi also made it 3-0, with a superb shot assisted by Andres Iniesta. In the second half, despite Sansone scoring in the 54^th minute, Ousmane Dembele sealed the victory with two goals in the 87^th and 90+3 minute. This was a relatively easy win for Barcelona, solidifying their place as La Liga leaders, while Villarreal battled it out in the bottom half.

Barcelona 3-3 Villareal. 22/05/05

One of the past matches between Villarreal and FC Barcelona that fans remember the most. It’s because of its intensity, pace and action all throughout the 90 minutes. With the match on edge all throughout the game, the goals and plays between players  did not fail to disappoint.

Uruguayan international Diego Forlan had opened the game with a beautiful goal in the 16^th minute. Assisted by Hector Font, Forlan’s finesse was too much for the young Spanish keeper Victor Valdes, bringing the ‘yellow submarines’ up by one goal. On the other side of the half however, after being fouled in the penalty area, Barcelona had a chance of making it 1-1 in the 24^th minute. Despite this, Eto’o had failed to convert the penalty into a goal, as he struck the crossbar, thereby failing to execute the chance that came. Five minutes later, Villareal were 2-0 up with yet another goal by Diego Forlan.

Unlike Eto’o, Forlan managed to convert his penalty into a goal, taking Villareal into a comfortable lead. Before the first half had ended however, Barcelona brought it back. A header goal by Ronaldinho in the 33^rd minute, followed by tap in by Giuly in the 36^th. The second half saw Giuly’s second goal. A right footed shot in the 47^th minute, before Forlan scored his hattrick in the 62^nd minute. The match had ended 3-3, with Forlan impressing throughout the whole game.