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Barcelona were clinical on their way to a 5-1 win over Villarreal as the Blaugrana maintained their perfect start to their league campaign. The two teams showed plenty of early intent and Yeremy Pino offered a warning of his side’s quality with three wonderful touches before cushioning the ball over Marc-Andre Ter Stegen, although that was inconsequential due to the offside flag.
The hosts continued to look sharp with saves from Ter Stegen being required to deny Nicolas Pepe and Alex Baena while Lamine Yamal and Pedri came agonisingly close at the other end between those efforts. Robert Lewandowski provided the clinical touch needed to find the breakthrough in the 20th minute, applying a cool first-time finish to Pablo Torre’s through ball.
Diego Conde did brilliantly to claw the striker’s next attempt away, but not to be denied, Lewandowski converted again when Eric Garcia’s header took a touch off Conde and fell to him. Villarreal halved their deficit a mere three minutes later, as Pepe raced behind and squared the ball for Ayoze Perez to finish. Ter Stegen then rushed out dominantly to deny Pepe an equalizer before the break but was forced off injured due to his landing after collecting the ball from the ensuing corner, being replaced by Inaki Pena.
In a chaotic start to the second half, Pepe saw a goal ruled out for offside and hit a venomous strike that was tipped over before Pino headed against the crossbar. Having come so close, Villarreal instead conceded shortly before the hour mark as Torre’s shot from the edge of the box took a deflection off Logan Costa on its way into the bottom corner.
Eric Bailly fouled Yamal to concede a penalty soon after, but Marcelino’s men were given a reprieve as Lewandowski’s spot-kick hit the post. Barcelona then had their own let-off as Thierno Barry headed home but did so from an offside position. Raphinha then helped his side make the most of it by hitting a shot that deflected off Bailly and bounced past Conde.
The Brazilian struck again from an exquisite Yamal pass eight minutes later, adding an extra layer of gloss as Barcelona responded to their disappointing Champions League opener by continuing the club’s perfect start to their campaign in La Liga, ensuring they will remain top.
