Barcelona quickly recovered from their first defeat of the season against Monaco and continued to make a perfect start to the La Liga season thanks to a wild 5-1 victory over Villarreal in Ceramica Stadium on Sunday. A game that was much closer than the result suggests had absolutely everything, including a gruesome injury to Barça goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen, and the Catalans had to show great resilience to get through the difficult moments and great quality to score the goals necessary to take all three points and stay at the top of the table with six wins from six games.

FIRST HALF

After the short break, Hansi Flick made a surprising number of changes to his starting eleven compared to the match against Monaco. His rotated team struggled at the start of the game as Villarreal dominated the first ten minutes.

The home team started very quickly, applying high pressure and trying to get behind Barça’s high line to create chances. They almost took the lead after eight minutes through Yeremi Pino, but the goal was disallowed for offside.

After a difficult start, Barça finally had more possession and were able to gain control. Pablo Torre and Pedri found space in midfield and Lamine Yamal was dangerous as always on the right wing.

The Barcelona created three huge chances in the space of 40 seconds: Yamal’s shot hit the post, Raphinha’s effort was blocked on the goal line and Pedri’s shot went agonisingly wide. Shortly after this wave of attacks, they took the lead: Pablo Torre played an incredible through ball to find the running Robert Lewandowski and the striker curled the ball past the goalkeeper to put Barça ahead.

The visitors were full of confidence after taking the lead, controlled the ball very well and posed a real threat with their passing and movement in the final third. And they showed their strength with a second goal: a cross from Yamal found Eric García at the far post and after his header was blocked, Lewandowski converted his own goal with a small overhead kick, doubling Barça’s lead.

However, Villarreal responded immediately with a tap-in from Ayoze Pérez after the home side finally managed to beat the offside trap. The game became even more even after the hosts scored and the final minutes of the half were wild with both teams looking for another goal.

Pépé had a great chance to equalise when he found himself alone in front of Ter Stegen, but the German goalkeeper made a brilliant save to keep Barça ahead. And then came a gruesome moment: Ter Stegen went up to catch the resulting corner, fell awkwardly and immediately asked for medical attention after apparently breaking his leg. The German was replaced by Iñaki Peña and Barça had to somehow recover from the trauma.

Villarreal had a few very dangerous chances through crosses in the final seconds, but somehow failed to find the net and the half-time whistle brought an absolutely wild opening period to an end.

Barça somehow had the lead after a truly crazy first half and had to clear their heads at half-time following their captain’s serious injury in order to maintain their lead and confirm the win in the second half.

SECOND HALF

Things remained wild at the beginning of the final phase. Villarreal kept finding space behind Barça’s high line and posed a real threat through Pépé. His goal was disallowed after five minutes, but he continued to create great chances for himself and his teammates.

Yeremi hit the crossbar with a header and Peña parried a Pépé shot brilliantly. Barça had no control of the ball at all and were very vulnerable at the back. The Catalans seemed to be on the verge of conceding an equaliser at any moment and were lucky to still be ahead 10 minutes into the half.

But the Barcelona eventually calmed down and got back into the game, having more possession and forcing Villarreal to defend deeper, while the Catalans slowed the home team’s momentum and started sending more players forward.

And just before the hour mark, a decisive goal was scored: after a beautiful passing sequence on the right, Pablo Torre fired a shot from outside the box that deflected off Logan Costa and caught the goalkeeper flat-footed, and Barça had suddenly restored their two-goal lead on the away pitch.

Flick made a triple substitution immediately after the goal: Pau Cubarsí, Marc Casadó and Pau Víctor came into the game to give the team fresh energy, while Pedri was substituted to give himself some much-needed rest.

Five minutes later, things could have been even better, as Barça were awarded a penalty after the VAR called the referee to the screen and he pointed to the spot after seeing Eric Bailly bring down Yamal in the box. But Lewandowski hit the post and was unable to complete his hat-trick, effectively deciding the game.

Barça almost paid for the missed penalty immediately when Thierno Barry headed in a cross from the left. But the substitute was offside and the goal was disallowed, ending a bizarre five-minute sequence.

With 20 minutes left to play, Villarreal had nothing to lose and sent everyone forward to find a way back into the game. Instead, the hosts found themselves three goals down: Gerard Martín chased the ball down the left wing and found Pau Víctor in the box. The young man passed the ball to Raphinha, whose shot deflected off Bailly and went into the net, making it three goals. Barcelona lead.

The away side were not finished yet and dealt the final knockout blow to the game thanks to an absolutely OUTRAGEOUS assist from Yamal, who used the outside of his left foot to play a 45-yard pass over the bar and find Raphinha who kicked the ball into the ground and over the goalkeeper to finally settle the game with one of the goals of the season so far.

Villarreal were simply stunned by the way the second half went and lost their composure. Sergi Cardona in particular committed a cynical and ugly foul on Yamal and the home team ended up looking like sore losers.

The final whistle brought an end to the craziest game of the season so far, won by Barça with resilience, quality and great football at the right moment. The defense suffered greatly and the offside trap was close to breaking apart several times, but the attack was there at the decisive moment and delivered the performance that secured the win.

Six wins from six games and an away win against a good team despite eight players missing and three other regular players on the bench while the goalkeeper and captain broke his leg. This game was all about heart, and Hansi Flick’s team showed plenty of that today.

Well done, guys!

Villarreal: Conde; Femenía, Bailly, Costa, Cardona; Yeremi (Barry 63′), Comesaña (Terrats 78′), Parejo (Gueye 70′), Baena (Akhomach 78′); Pépé (Denis 78′), Ayoze

Goal: Ayoze (38′)

Barcelona: Ter Stegen (Peña 45+3′); Kounde, Domínguez (Cubarsí 59′), Iñigo (Fort 81′), Martín; Torre (Víctor 59′), Eric, Pedri (Casadó 59′); Yamal, Lewandowski, Raphinha

Goals: Lewandowski (20th, 35th), Torre (58th), Raphinha (75th, 83rd)