Barcelona, a solid performance in the 2-0 victory at Villarreal » The Catalans finish the year in first place in La Liga

Ashley Davis21/12/2025

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Article by Dragoș Petrescu, Cosmin Nistor – Published Sunday, December 21, 2025, 7:32 p.m. / Updated Sunday, December 21, 2025, 7:33 p.m.

Villarreal and Barcelonathe formations prepared by Marcelino García and Hansi Flick, met today at the “Estadio de la Ceramica”, in the most anticipated duel of the #17 stage of La Liga. The Catalans clearly prevailed, score 2-0, thanks to the goals scored by Raphinha, in the 12th minute, from a shot from 11 meters, and Lamine Yamal, in the 63rd minute.

The Blaugrana entered the box with a numerical advantage after Villarreal centre-back Renato Veiga was red-carded in the 39th minute for a challenge on Lamine Yamal. For the Lusitanian, it was the third red card of his career.

Villareal – Barcelona 0-2: the hosts were coming after 6 consecutive victories

Before the elimination, in the 17th minute, Villarreal managed to equalize, after an own goal by Jules Kounde. However, the goal was disallowed because a home player was in an illegal position.

Before the clash with Barcelona, Villarreal were coming off the back of an impressive six-game winning streak, results that had propelled Marcelino Garcia's side to the bottom of the podium, eight points behind the leaders.

Barcelona, 9 wins out of 10

However, Hansi Flick's team is going through an excellent period. Barcelona have won 9 of their last 10 games in all competitions, with their only defeat coming a month ago, 0-3 at Stamford Bridge against Chelsea in the Champions League, in a match where the Catalans were outnumbered for more than a half.

Thanks to this success, Barcelona restores the gap of four points at the top of the table and ends the year in first place in La Liga, with 46 points. On the other hand, Villarreal remains in 4th place, 11 points behind the Catalans.

Full schedule of stage #17 of La Liga

FINAL » Villarreal – Barcelona 0-2

Click HERE for statistics;
bullets: Raphinha 12' (pen.), Yamal 63'
In the 39th minuteVillarreal centre-back Renato Veiga is red-carded for a challenge on Lamine Yamal, leaving Villarreal down before the end of the first half. For the Portuguese, this is the third red card of his career.
In the 17th minuteVillarreal managed to equalize after a successful own goal by Jules Kounde. Fortunately for the Catalans, a player of the “yellow submarine” was in an irregular position.

Villarreal – Barcelona » Starting teams:

VILLARREAL (4-4-2): L. Junior – Navarro, Marin, Veiga, Cardona – Buchanan, Comesana, Parejo, Moleiro – Pepe, Perez
reserves: Tenas – Altimira, Diatta, Macia, Mikautadze, Moreno, Oluwaseyi, Solomon, Valou
Coach: Marcelino Garcia

FC BARCELONA (4-2-3-1): J. Garcia – Kounde, Cubarsi, Martin, Balde – E. Garcia, De Jong – Yamal, Fermin, Raphinha – Torres
reserves: Szczesny, Ter Stegen – Bardghji, Bernal, Casado, Fernandez, Lewandowski, Marques, Rashford
Coach: Hans-Dieter Flick

Stadium: Estadio de la Ceramica (Villarreal)
Referee: Javier Alberola