Villarreal vs Barcelona, La Liga: Match Thread, Live Updates

FULL-TIME, Villarreal 1-5 Barcelona: The craziest game of the season so far ends with a Barça win after a game that had absolutely everything. The scoreline doesn’t tell the story of what we saw on the pitch, but Barça deserved to win based on their resilience and quality. Ter Stegen’s horrible injury is one of the big stories, but the main takeaway is that Barça remain perfect with six wins out of six to begin the La Liga season. Well done, boys!

83’ GOAL!!!!!!!!!!!! Villarreal 1-5 Barcelona (Raphinha): WOW!!!!!!! Lamine Yamal plays an absolutely OUTRAGEOUS pass with the outside of his left foot to find Raphinha, who kicks the ball into the ground and over the keeper to make it five and kill off the game for good!!! WHAT A GOAL!!!!!

75’ GOAL!!!! Villarreal 1-4 Barcelona (Raphinha): IT’S FOUR!!!! Barça take a huge step towards clinching the win as Pau Víctor’s pass finds Raphinha at the edge of the box and his shot deflects off Bailly and into the net!!!

68’ GOAL DISALLOWED: Villarreal almost get back in it with a header by Thierno Barry, but the goal is ruled out for offside on the substitute.

67’ PENALTY MISSED: Lewandowski steps up looking to complete his hat-trick but hits the post instead.

66’ PENALTY FOR BARCELONA! The referee is called to the screen and points to the spot after seeing Eric Bailly bring down Yamal inside the box.

58’ GOAL!!!! Villarreal 1-3 Barcelona (Torre): IT’S THREE!!! Barça restore their two-goal lead as Pablo Torre fires a shot from outside the box that deflects off Logan Costa and goes into the net!!!

50’ GOAL DISALLOWED: Pépé is played through by Baena and finds the bottom corner, but the goal is once again ruled out for offside.

SECOND HALF KICKOFF! Villarreal 1-2 Barcelona: Back underway in Villarreal!

HALFTIME, Villarreal 1-2 Barcelona: Barça go into the break with the lead in a wild half, but the story really is the horror injury suffered by goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen, who had to be stretchered off with a broken leg. The Blaugrana will have to deal with the trauma, and try to find a way to win against a Villarreal side that could have easily scored another goal or two. Should be a crazy second period.

38’ GOAL, Villarreal 1-2 Barcelona (Ayoze): Villarreal are back in it immediately as Baena’s pass finds the run of Nicolás Pépé and he gives Ayoze Pérez a tap-in inside the box.

35’ GOAL!!!! Villarreal 0-2 Barcelona (Lewandowski): BARÇA DOUBLE THE LEAD!!! Lamine Yamal’s cross finds Eric García at the back post, and after his header is saved by the keeper the ball falls perfectly to Lewandowski who scores a mini-bicycle kick to double his tally!

20’ GOAL!!! Villarreal 0-1 Barcelona (Lewandowski): BARÇA TAKE THE LEAD!!! Pablo Torre plays an amazing through ball to find Robert Lewandowski inside the box and the striker flicks it past the keeper to put the visitors in front!!!

8’ GOAL DISALLOWED: Álex Baena’s pass finds the run of Yeremi Pino who then lobs Marc-André ter Stegen, but the Villarreal winger is offside and the goal is ruled out.

KICKOFF! Villarreal 0-0 Barcelona: And we’re underway in Villarreal!

WELCOME TO THE ESTADIO DE LA CERÁMICA!!! The beautiful home of Villarreal, forever known as El Madrigal in our hearts, is the site of a huge clash between the hosts and Barcelona, who come into this one looking to maintain the perfect record to start the La Liga season and rebound from their first defeat of the campaign away to Monaco in Europe in midweek. But it won’t be easy against a very strong Yellow Submarine side that scored eight goals in two meetings against Barça last season, and they are ready to cause huge problems once again. This should be all kinds of fun, and you’re welcome to join us to follow and comment all the action. Vamos!

(Note: the comments will be opened only when the team news come out, because our commenter people love commenting and sometimes there are too many comments in the comments section)

BARCELONA

Starting XI: Ter Stegen; Kounde, Domínguez, Iñigo, Martín; Torre, Eric, Pedri; Yamal, Lewandowski, Raphinha (4-3-3)

Substitutes: Peña (GK), Astralaga (GK), Cubarsí, Cuenca, Fort, Balde, Casadó, Guille, Toni, Fati, Víctor

VILLARREAL

Starting XI: Conde; Femenía, Bailly, Costa, Cardona; Pépé, Comesaña, Parejo, Yeremi; Ayoze, Baena (4-4-2)

Substitutes: Junior (GK), Albiol, Bernat, Navarro, Denis, Gueye, Terrats, Akhomach, Barry

Competition/Round: 2024-25 La Liga, Matchday 6

Date/Time: Sunday, September 22, 2024, 6.30pm CET (Barcelona), 5.30pm BST/WAT (UK & Nigeria), 12.30pm ET, 9.30am PT (USA), 10pm IST (India)

Venue: Estadio de la Cerámica, Villarreal, Spain

Referee: Mateo Busquets Ferrer

VAR: Javier Iglesias Villanueva

On TV: ESPN Deportes (USA), Premier Sports 2 (UK), SuperSport (Nigeria), others

Online: ESPN+ (USA), LaLigaTV (UK), GXR World (India), DAZN (Spain), others

We don’t have a lot of rules here, but there are a few things to keep in mind when joining our matchday threads:

Even if the referee sucks or we lose the game, watch the swearing. It’s just unnecessary. Also, don’t discuss illegal streaming links. Those who do it will be warned, and those who post links will be instantly banned. Finally, be nice to each other. This is a Barcelona community and we don’t need to offend one another.

Have fun with the game! Forever and ever, no matter the competition, VISCA EL BARÇA!