Barcelona maintained their excellent begin to LaLiga with a commanding 5-1 victory over Villarreal on Sunday, September 22. Nonetheless, the triumph was overshadowed by a probably critical knee harm to goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen, who needed to be stretchered off the sector.
The win marked Barcelona’s sixth consecutive league victory, however the match was not with out its drama. Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha each netted twice, with Lewandowski additionally lacking a penalty in an entertaining conflict at Villarreal’s Estadio de la Ceramica. Ayoze Perez briefly pulled Villarreal again into the competition simply earlier than halftime, nevertheless it was not sufficient to stem the tide.
Lewandowski opened the scoring within the twentieth minute after a slick help from Pablo Torre, earlier than including his second with an acrobatic end following a rebound. This introduced his tally to 6 targets for the season, giving him a two-goal lead within the race for Spain’s golden boot over Actual Madrid’s Kylian Mbappe.
Villarreal responded earlier than halftime when Perez capitalized on a setup from Nicolas Pepe. Nonetheless, ter Stegen’s harm turned a focus as he fell awkwardly whereas catching a nook, resulting in his alternative by Inaki Pena. Within the second half, Villarreal had a purpose from Pepe disallowed for offside and noticed Yeremy Pino hit the bar. However Barcelona seized management once more when Torre scored with a deflected shot, and Lewandowski’s subsequent penalty miss did little to dampen the guests’ momentum.
Raphinha sealed the cope with two late targets, first with a deflected strike after which by ending off a superb move from teenager Lamine Yamal.
Regardless of the emphatic scoreline and a four-point lead over second-placed Actual Madrid, issues linger over ter Stegen’s harm and its potential affect on Barcelona’s title aspirations. Coach Hansi Flick expressed fear in regards to the severity, stating, “I believe it will likely be an enormous harm.” Total, Barcelona’s assault was relentless, however the harm to their first-choice keeper might show essential because the season progresses.