Barcelona ended Villarreal's run of eighteen games without loss in an epic encounter at the Nou Camp on Sunday evening. Luis Enrique's side came back from being 1-0 and 2-1 down to eventually win 3-2 thanks to goals from Neymar, Rafinha and Lionel Messi. Denis Cheryshev and Luciano Vietto netted for Villarreal.

Barcelona started the game on the front foot with Luis Suarez going close twice early on with an acrobatic volley that he failed to fully connect with and a shot that dragged wide after a through pass from Andres IniestaThe Uruguayan went close again on thirteen minutes when he shot first time from a Dani Alves cross but this time Sergio Asenjo managed to knock it around the post with his right hand.

Barca's dominance continued and the next chance arrived on eighteen minutes when Rafinha was taken down in a central position twenty yards out by Victor Ruiz. The free kick looked to be more suited to a right footer but Messi took it but wasted the opportunity by not beating the yellow wall in front of Asenjo's goal.

Minutes later Suarez had another great opportunity when Villarreal failed to clear their lines and the ball fell to the Uruguayan on the penalty spot but he put his shot just wide of Asenjo's left hand post. Villarreal took the lead against the run of play on thirty minutes when on loan Real Madrid star Denis Cheryshev diverted a wild effort from Mario past Claudio Bravo in the Barcelona goal after a quick break from Marcelino's side. It was the first opportunity El Submarino Amarillo had created and was the perfect punishment for Barcelona not taking their chances.

Barca continued to dominate possession and could have equalised on forty-two minutes when Messi released Alves down the right and his cross found Suarez who laid off to Iniesta but he was crowded out. Villarreal broke away quickly after the Iniesta shot and almost went two up when Luciano Vietto got above Mascherano but Bravo was able to catch his header.

Barcelona did equalise just before half time through Neymar who has been in superb form this season. Messi picked up the ball on the right wing and beat a defender before playing in Rafinha. The Brazilian tried to curl the ball past Asenjo but the keeper was equal to it but could only knock the ball to Neymar who cooly rolled the ball into the empty net. Barca had dominated possession in the first half but Villarreal looked very dangerous on the counter attack.

The second half continued as the first had ended with Barcelona in the ascendancy but again it was a Villarreal counter attack that led to a goal on fifty-two minutes. Gerard Pique's bad touch let Giovani dos Santos in and the Mexican ran straight at the Barcelona goal before cutting the ball back to Vietto who slotted into the open goal. 

Again the lead was short lived and Barca equalised one minute later through Rafinha. Iniesta's pass found Suarez who decided to cross this time. Messi got on the end of the cross but his header was blocked by Victor but the ball dropped to Rafinha who smashed the ball into the goal with his left foot from six yards. On fifty-five minutes Barcelona were ahead thanks to a lovely strike from Lionel Messi. Jordi Alba found Suarez on the edge of the box and he was able to poke the ball to Messi who took a touch before curling a right footed shot past Asenjo.

The referee took centre stage on sixty-four minutes with two big decisions. Firstly Villarreal thought they had equalised when Victor scored after a scramble at a free kick but the referee rightly disallowed it for offside. Barcelona didn't stick around to argue and broke away quickly and got Neymar one on one with Asenjo. Neymar lifted the ball over the goalkeeper and was taken down but the referee decided no penalty. Neymar may have been on his way down prior to the contact and it can only be assumed that may have swayed the referee's decision.

Barcelona continued to enjoy a lot of possession but with the lead they were now happy to just retain the ball to take the sting out of the game and frustrate Villarreal. Villarreal were unable to get enough of the ball to cause any problems for Luis Enrique's side and in the end they were able to comfortably see it through to the end for a 3-2 win.

The opening hour of the game was a real classic as Barcelona tried to break down a strong Villarreal defence who were causing all sorts of problems on the counter attack. However, once Barcelona got the lead they done a great job of killing the game off and handed Villarreal their first defeat in eighteen games.

Next up for Barca is a trip to San Mames to take on Athletic Bilbao while Villarreal will look to get back to winning ways when they host Granada. Anyone who enjoyed tonight's game won't have to wait long to see it again with Barca and Villarreal due to meet again in the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey in just ten days time. If it's as good as tonight's game it will be worth watching. 

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About the author
Gerry Johnston
Cover Spanish and Italian football for VAVEL UK.