Barcelona vs. Villarreal: Winners and Losers from La Liga
Barcelona moved back to the top of La Liga with a 3-0 win at home over Villarreal in an excellent match on Sunday.
A goalless first half was mostly memorable for poor refereeing decisions and a spate of yellow cards rather than anything else, but around the hour mark, Neymar burst into life and scored a neat near-post finish. Shortly after that, Luis Suarez made it 2-0 from the penalty spot. In the final minutes, Neymar scored the best goal of the game with an outrageous move and finish to bamboozle the Villarreal defence.
Here are all our winners and losers from the match at the Camp Nou.
Winner: Neymar
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Once more the best attacker on the pitch, Neymar's recent form has been nothing short of absurd in terms of his final product.
The Brazilian racked up another two goals and created several chances for his team against Villarreal, and he might even have had a hat-trick had he been less selfless inside the penalty box—or indeed in letting Luis Suarez take the penalty this week.
His first goal showed composure; his second showed pure, outrageous technique. It was a Goal of the Season contender for sure.
Losers: Villarreal Full-Backs
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To keep Barcelona out all game long, your back four needs to have a perfect game, without a second's loss of concentration or technical fault.
Villarreal's two full-backs, Mario Gaspar and Jaume Costa, have been among the best in La Liga this season, but each of them made an error that cost the Yellow Submarine two goals on Sunday.
Mario pushed up from the right before Villarreal had cleared the ball, and Neymar ran in behind him for the first goal, while Costa's ludicrous tackle—totally out of character for his usual measured approach to defending—took down Munir El Haddadi for the penalty on the second goal.
Not that there was much anybody could have done about it, but Neymar also embarrassed Costa for the third and final goal.
Winners: Victor Ruiz and Roberto Soldado
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The scoreline might have finished 3-0, but that doesn't reflect the excellent performance from most of the Villarreal players, with the experienced part of the team's spine in particularly impressive form: Roberto Soldado in attack and Victor Ruiz in defence.
The former Tottenham Hotspur striker didn't find the back of the net on this occasion, but his work rate throughout the first half was exceptional without huge support from midfield, and he got the better of the home defence with his movement, first touch and ability to link play.
At the back, Victor Ruiz was in top form again and was rarely bested on the ground or in the air. The former Valencia man kept things together on the edge of his own box, made a huge number of interventions and has been in exemplary form all term.
Winner: Sergio Busquets
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The finest of Barcelona's midfielders on the day again, Sergio Busquets produced both destructive and constructive work to provide the platform for both his team's clean sheet and their three-goal winning margin.
Controlling everything from the centre, as usual, Busquets had the mobility to challenge behind his full-backs who rampaged forward and then the technical ability to make use of possession afterward.
He broke the packed midfield lines several times when the scores were locked at 0-0, and he found Neymar with an incisive pass for the first goal.
Winner: Luis Enrique
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We'd normally fit in another loser at some point, but the game was a tremendous affair all-round and should be looked at for the positives more than the negatives—so Luis Enrique is our final winner, with his team heading into El Clasico after the international break in excellent form.
Injuries and a lack of squad depth haven't hindered the Catalan club, as the manager has been able to juggle his limited resources superbly in both major competitions.
The win takes Barca clear at the top, with Real Madrid playing later, and most of his key players—those fit, at least—will head into the big match in great confidence and individual form.
