In what could arguably be one of the games where Barcelona has shown more weaknesses than usual, they traveled to Villarreal to play against La Liga's fourth positioned squad. The Catalan club started winning the match all thanks to some help from the referee, starting on the 16th minute, Gerard Pique committed a handball inside the box and the ref did not call it despite the clarity of the play. Four minutes later Ivan Rakitic would cease an opportunity after that mistake and tucked in a loose ball inside Villarreal's box.
The referee's second mistake arrives just four minutes before half time, goalkeeper Asenjo managed to defend a ball in front of Neymar but the ref saw a foul on the Brazilian and called the penalty kick. Neymar himself scored from the spot with a soft touch to the middle, Pique didn't come out after half time after risking that red card in the first half and Frenchman Mathieu took his place. But the second half would turn into a true nightmare for Barcelona, the local squad made a tremendous effort to at least try to tie the match.
Villarreal would start the second half strong, they were on point early in the 57th minute with a goal scored by Bakambu after a cross from the left. Then soon after coming from a corner kick, Jeremy Mathieu scored an own goal just eight minutes after taking Gerard Pique's place who preferred to not risk his participation in the next Clasico against Real Madrid. This result would stick, but Villarreal had a lot of chances to get the winning goal, today they managed to put Barcelona's unbeaten record at risk but they still reached 39 unbeaten matches.
Photo credit: FC Barcelona