FULL-TIMEpublished at 21:58 GMT 27 November 2021
Villarreal 1-3 Barcelona
A bit of a heist, but Barcelona will take it. Xavi makes it two wins from two in La Liga since taking the helm at the Nou Camp.
Thanks for your company. Goodbye.
Barcelona lie seventh in La Liga table
De Jong opened scoring, Chukwueze levels, before Depay sand Coutinho score late
Former Man City defender Eric Garcia and teenager winger Ez Abde came into Barca line-up
New manager Xavi undefeated in first three games in charge
Mike Henson
Villarreal 1-3 Barcelona
A bit of a heist, but Barcelona will take it. Xavi makes it two wins from two in La Liga since taking the helm at the Nou Camp.
Thanks for your company. Goodbye.
Philippe Coutinho (pen)
Coutinho's shot squeezes into the bottom corner, getting there just before the goalkeeper's glove.
Juan Foyth gave away the spot-kick by the way.
Villarreal 1-2 Barcelona
Philippe Coutinho tripped. Philippe Coutinho to take....
Villarreal 1-2 Barcelona
SIX MINUTES added on at the end of the match. Xavi distinctly unimpressed.
Memphis Depay
A get out of jail free card cashed in.
A big boot forward from Marc ter Stegen is poorly dealt with by defender Pervis Estupinan. Memphis Depay nips in, controls with a silky touch, rounds the goalkeeper and slots the ball between the legs of the covering Estupinian to complete the getaway.
Barcelona had been hanging on before that sucker punch goal.
Villarreal 1-1 Barcelona
Barcelona are rocking here. The visitors would snap your hand off for the point now. Arnaut Danjuma drills a yard wide as the Barcelona defence is pulled all out of shape.
Villarreal 1-1 Barcelona
Xavi shuffles his midfield pack with Philippe Coutinho on in place of Nico.
Samuel Chukwueze
This is ugly for Barcelona.
The visitors had been inviting the pressure and it turns out they are ill-equipped to deal with it.
Manu Trigueros and Arnaut Danjuma help the ball on hopefully and Samuel Chukwueze gambles with a run in behind.
The ball drops nicely for the Nigerian and he pings a shot into the bottom corner.
Villarreal 0-1 Barcelona
Manu Trigueros smacks a snap shot over the top for Villarreal after Villarreal winger Samuel Chukwueze beats Oscar Mingueza in a phone-box.
Villarreal 0-1 Barcelona
Ousmane Dembele, linked with a mega-money move to Newcastle as he continues his return from injury, is on in place of the impressive Ez Abde for Barcelona.
Villarreal 0-1 Barcelona
Eric Garcia has hold of Raul Albiol's shirt as Barcelona try and defend a corner. Albiol ends up on the deck as he attempts to drive into the six-yard box.
Decent shout for a penalty.
But no dice says the VAR overlords.
Villarreal 0-1 Barcelona
Better from Villarreal.
Moi Gomez, top of the box, opts to try and fake and shift the ball to Arnaut Danjuma when it would have been better to shoot. The chance disappears...
Villarreal 0-1 Barcelona
What have Villarreal got then?
They were the better team in the first half, but have to clamber off the canvas to try and find something from this match.
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Manchester City's Bernardo Silva is asking, with good reason, why Benfica's game in the Portuguese top flight has not been postponed.
Their relegation-threatened opponents - Belenenses - have only been able to field a team of nine because of a Covid outbreak. And one of their outfield players is a goalkeeper by trade.
Just shy of half-time and Benfica lead 6-0.
Frenkie de Jong
It stands!
It took a long, long time for the video stars to kill off the referee's decision but they did finally.
Ez Adbe's good work down the right created room for his cross. It flies deep, Jordi Alba wallops it back into the danger area and Raul Albiol and Pau Torres are just about playing Memphis Depay onside.
De Jong has a simple job of stabbing home.
Villarreal 0-0 Barcelona
Frenkie de Jong is just offside as he stabs in a loose ball in the six-yard box. Or is it Memphis Depay, who had the initial shot in the middle?
The VAR machine is going to clear it all up upstairs...
Will it stand?
Villarreal 0-0 Barcelona
Right, we are back underway. No changes to either side.
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Benfica should lend them a couple of subs surely?
They lead 3-0 after half an hour, with 84% possession.
Villarreal 0-0 Barcelona
Whistle.
Villareal came on strong in the second half of the first half, but still goalless.
Villarreal 0-0 Barcelona
Alfonso Pedraza launches into a scissor-kick volley. Spectacular, but needs to get the radar fixed. The ball flies harmlessly wide of the Barcelona goal.