FC Barcelona vs Villarreal CF – 20/10/2022
Christian Bertrand / Shutterstock.com
4123
After registering their first defeat of the La Liga season, Barcelona are back at the Camp Nou to play hosts to seventh-placed Villarreal with Xavi’s men looking to bounce back after a damning loss to El Clasico rivals Real Madrid in the Spanish top flight.
Barcelona were far from their best in the match with their arch rivals. Xavi’s side predictably saw most of the ball at the Santiago Bernabeu, but there was never much hope of the fans winning the game, especially after they went 1-0 down inside the first 12 minutes to a Karim Benzema goal.
⚡️ ???? ???? ⚡️
Barça manager Xavi Hernández speaks to the media ahead of Thursday’s #BarçaVillarreal in @LaLigaEN????? ??? ?? ????̧? ??+
? https://t.co/y4T6zDqzRN pic.twitter.com/MJhQRFbBGe— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) October 19, 2022
In fact, Barcelona eventually went 2-0 down before Ferran Torres scored a goal, although Federico Valverde soon netted a third for Real and the game ended 3-1.
Barcelona have now not won in their past two games since beating Celta Vigo 1-0, having also drawn 3-3 with Inter Milan in a thrilling game in the Champions League last midweek.
What’s more Xavi also saw his side lose 1-0 to Inter at the San Siro two weeks ago, meaning the club have registered only two victories in October so far after also beating Mallorca 1-0.
Regardless of the loss to Real and despite sitting three points behind the league leaders now, this cannot force us to look past what has been a sensational start to the season in Spain for Barcelona.
The club have let in just four goals from nine games so far this campaign, and given how three of those were in one game last time out, it looks as if no other side in the league is able to boast the same defensive brilliance as them.
What’s more, Barcelona also have a game in hand over third-placed Atletico Madrid, which means they could extend their position in second to five points above third. Xavi has also led his side to netting an impressive 21 goals so far in La Liga, and only Real have scored more.
As for Villarreal, they have been in topsy-turvy form in October, having lost to Real Sociedad two weeks ago, while they also drew with Cadiz at the start of the month.
They did manage to bounce back recently with a 2-0 win over Osasuna, and after beating Austria Wien 1-0 in Austria and 5-0 back on home soil in the Europa Conference League, Villarreal have a bit to shout about too.
Forebet predicts a win here for Barcelona and for the game to see over 2.5 goals
