Barcelona vs. Villarreal: Winners and Losers from La Liga Game
Barcelona extended their current winning streak to eight games as they twice came from behind to beat Villarreal 3-2 at the Nou Camp on Sunday evening.
Goals from Neymar, Rafinha and Lionel Messi (with his right foot) were enough for Luis Enrique's side to add another important three points after goals from Denis Cheryshev and Luciano Vietto had twice given the visitors the advantage.
Villarreal could not hold on to those leads, however, as Marcelino's side eventually saw their 18-match unbeaten streak ended.
Click on for some winners and losers from an entertaining La Liga game.
Winner: Rafinha
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When the lineups were announced for this game, the only real surprise in the Barcelona XI was the selection of Rafinha, who got the nod ahead of Ivan Rakitic in midfield. It was probably a simple case of giving Rakitic a rest on the part of Luis Enrique. But nevertheless, Rafinha fully repaid his manager's faith in him with his performance—indeed, perhaps even creating something of a selection headache with his all-round display.
The 21-year-old was arguably the game's standout performer, looking every bit the seasoned professional as he provided that crucial link between Sergio Busquets and Andres Iniesta in the heart of the Barcelona midfield.
He belied his tender years and relative lack of experience with a commanding all-round display, carrying the ball with conviction, winning it off opponents with determination and, at an important point in the contest, getting the goal that helped turn the game around.
It may have only been a glorified tap-in, but coming just minutes after Villarreal had taken the lead for the second time, it changed the momentum at a perfect moment. Rafinha continued to drive his team on after that, although in the closing stages a marginal lack of conditioning perhaps began to show itself. That happens when you are so young, however, and he will quickly improve in that area.
“It was a very important match for me,” Rafinha told Canal+ (via AS). “I’ve given everything, although I know it’s hard to earn a starting role. We knew it was going to be tough because they arrived in good form, but luckily we equalised soon after they scored and then we got the third. With the three in attack anything is possible.”
With the Dos Santos brothers, Jonathan and Giovani, on the other team, the game offered a reminder of the high standards required to make it into the first team as a Barcelona player.
Both Dos Santos men are serviceable La Liga players—indeed, probably better than serviceable—yet Barcelona quickly decided they were not up to the particular standard required to enhance their first team, and they were duly sold. Rafinha will not suffer that fate.
If there was any doubt, this game confirmed that Rafinha is primed to be a huge part of Barcelona's long-term future.
As long as they don't let him slip through their fingers as they did with his brother, Thiago—and contract negotiations haven't yet begun, as Rafinha's father told Mundo Deportivo (via ESPN FC's Dermot Corrigan)—Barcelona can look forward to seeing him flourish over the coming seasons. Before too long, it might be no surprise when Rakitic is left on the bench and Rafinha is the one starting more regularly.
Loser: Luis Suarez
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Another game, another bunch of frustration for Luis Suarez. The Uruguayan had his moments—he provided the assist for Messi's winner—but he was denied a goal himself, as either a combination of great play from an opposition player, his own poor finishing or just plain bad luck seemed to thwart him at every turn.
Clearly there was always going to be a transition for Suarez—coming from Liverpool, where he was the main man, to Barcelona, where he is always going to have to play a second fiddle to Messi.
But his struggles recently have been more than that, the Uruguayan perhaps still paying the price for his early-season ban as he struggles to quite bring the requisite sharpness and fitness to be as impactful as Messi and Neymar are being right now.
It may well come for him sooner rather than later, but right now Suarez is a player in desperate need of a run of goals just to give him that confidence to get back to the level required. Right now, the excellence of his strike partners is only serving to highlight his own personal struggles.
Winner: Lionel Messi's Right Foot
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With his precision-engineered winner just shy of the hour-mark, Messi grabbed all three points for his team. What was perhaps unusual about the strike was that it came via his right foot, the Argentine's weaker foot.
Yet it turns out that was Messi's 12th goal of the season with his right foot, a remarkable example of how significantly he has improved that element of his game. Messi was never completely one-footed—that needs to be acknowledged—but the dominance of his left foot was once huge.
It remains his preferred foot—of course it does—but when it comes to finishing it is quickly becoming clear that Messi has worked hard recently to make himself equally comfortable shooting off either side.
That paid off handsomely on Sunday, as Messi hit an unerring effort that found Sergio Asenjo's top corner with beautiful efficiency. It is daunting to think that Messi is still getting better as a player at this stage of his career, but he is certainly still adding different elements to his game and strengthening different parts. As defenders try to catch up with him and work out a way to shackle him, he keeps on moving the goalposts and changing the test.
That is what all the greats do and is perhaps a key reason why he seems to be hitting untouchable form once again right now.
Winners: Luciano Vietto and Denis Cheryshev
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They may have ended up on the losing side, but both Denis Cheryshev and Luciano Vietto will have had reason to be delighted with their individual contributions on Sunday.
Cheryshev, who is still owned by Real Madrid, apparently wore Real Madrid shin pads for the game and will have given his parent club an early lift when his instinctive finish gave Villarreal a first-half lead. But it was also a moment of family significance; his father, Dmitri, also scored against Barcelona as a Sporting de Gijon player back in 1998—oddly enough on exactly the same day, February 1, 17 years ago.
Vietto, meanwhile, gave Villarreal a second lead in the second half, arriving late to turn home after brilliant work from Giovani dos Santos. It was the Argentine's 10th goal in just 13 starts in his first season in La Liga, a run of goalscoring that has marked the 21-year-old as one to watch for clubs around Europe.
Vietto perhaps did not have the finest all-round game on Sunday, but his goal continued a brilliant recent streak and will have done little to deter those clubs already interested in him. His reputation continues to grow and grow, and Villarreal can look forward to making a tidy profit on the player when the time finally comes to sell him.
