Barcelona vs Villarreal

Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys is the venue as Barcelona and Villarreal go head-to-head in a high-stakes La Liga encounter.

As talks over Xavi Hernandez’s potential dismissal start to fill the headlines, Barcelona eked out a precious 4-2 win at Real Betis last weekend despite initially spurning a 2-0 lead. Fresh off posting three consecutive La Liga victories since September, the reigning title holders return home to encounter a Villarreal side they’ve defeated in eight of their last nine top-flight H2Hs (L1), including a goal-glutted 4-3 triumph in the reverse fixture. Strengthening that run is imperative as the Catalan giants trail table-topping Girona by eight points, albeit with a game in hand. Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys could form a perfect backdrop, with Barcelona pulling off 11 wins in their 13 competitive matches at their temporary home this season (L2), including a 3-2 victory against rock-bottom Almeria last time out.

In the meantime, Villarreal conceded a stoppage-time equalizer in a gut-wrenching 1-1 home draw against Mallorca last week, extending their woeful winless run in all competitions to four games (D1, L3), including an embarrassing Copa del Rey exit to lower-league Unionistas. Manage Marcelino Garcia Toral has overseen three successive winless La Liga outings (D1, L2), resulting in Villarreal starting this round only five points clear of the drop zone. Leaving the province of Castellon must be a terrifying prospect for ‘El Submarino Amarillo,’ considering they’ve only won twice on their ten La Liga travels in 2023/24 (D3, L5), losing four of the last five (D1). With each defeat in that sequence seeing Villarreal concede 3+ goals, Barcelona’s frontline could have a field day.