Pedri plots path for Barcelona in Villarreal success
With five consecutive LaLiga triumphs fuelling their chase for a first LaLiga title since 2018/19, the Catalans are on a roll.
Therefore, it was unsurprising that even the absence of midfield metronome Sergio Busquets did little to affect Barcelona’s fluidity in a fast-paced opening.
The Yellow Submarine may have had a sinking feeling when Robert Lewandowski raced through on goal with just two minutes on the clock, but he uncharacteristically fired his effort straight at Villarreal keeper Pepe Reina.
There was little the veteran stopper could do when the striker later turned provider, however, with his superb exchange with Pedri seeing the midfield youngster slot past Reina for a third goal from his last six appearances.
The 20-year-old operated in a midfield diamond which worked to superb effect throughout the first half, resulting in Quique Setien’s possession-based approach being mostly muted, though Jose Luis Morales could only find the side netting when presented with a rare opportunity as the interval loomed.
That gilt-edged chance appeared to renew Villarreal’s impetus at the start of the second half as they adopted a physical, counter-attacking approach in order to fight the Barcelona machine.
Though they were given little by a Barça defence which has conceded just 0.35 goals a game - the lowest of any team in the ‘Big Five’ European leagues - with the Catalan club appearing to conserve energy ahead of next week’s crunch UEFA Europa League clash against Manchester United.
The last four LaLiga head-to-head meetings here have produced an average of five goals per game but with only Barcelona conceding fewer league goals than the hosts, who were also missing star forward Gerard Moreno, this was perhaps destined to be a cagier encounter.
To their credit, Villarreal’s advances were unrelenting, and they saw a late goal ruled out for offside, but were ultimately unable to truly test Marc-Andre ter Stegen in the closing minutes with the Yellow Submarine still without a home win against Barcelona since 2007.