Barcelona went four points clear at the top of La Liga on Saturday thanks to a 4-1 drubbing of Villarreal; and it was teen sensation Lamine Yamal who sunk the Yellow Submarine with a stunning hat-trick.
In my SBOTOP preview of Barcelona hosting Villarreal I put all my faith in the Blaugrana and the Catalans delivered in some style, dominating possession with over 71 per cent of the ball, winning the shot count by 19 to six and eight to one on target. It was a limp performance from the visitors who weren’t allowed to settle as Hansi Flick’s men put them to the sword.
Keeper Luiz Junior was a busy man in the Villarreal goal as the hosts peppered him with shots, and he denied Yamal moments before the 18 year old opened the scoring with a smart finish after he collected a superb through ball from Fermin Lopez. That was on 27 minutes and the two combined again ten minutes later when Fermin teed up Yamal on the right side of the penalty area, and this time he smashed an unstoppable shot high into the top left corner.
Villarreal midfielder Papa Gueye is having a superb season and he popped up to halve the deficit, minutes after half time, when he converted his close range effort from a Santiago Mourino corner. Flick responded by bringing on the fit again Pedri to replace Dani Olmo, Ronald Araujo to replace Marc Bernal and Robert Lewandowski took the place of Ferran Torres.
And the changes worked.
Any thoughts of a Villarreal comeback were ended when Pedri slipped Yamal in on goal and he completed his hat-trick with a clever angled finish. The La Roja star earned a standing ovation when he made way for Roony Bardghji on 73 minutes, and he watched from the stands as the evergreen Lewandowski rounded off the scoring on 90 minutes.
Next up Barca play Atletico Madrid in the Copa Del Rey semi-final second leg in midweek, with a four goal deficit to make up. It’s a tall order for the Catalans but Brazilian winger Raphinha has warned Los Rojiblancos that Barca are capable of getting back into the tie and, if they play like they did against the Yellow Submarine they have every chance.
The result in Barcelona meant Villarreal fell to fourth in the Primera Division table as Atletico Madrid took advantage when they picked up all three points in a 1-0 win away to Real Oviedo. But Diego Simeone’s men left it late as Julian Alvarez slotted home the winner four minutes into injury time. Oviedo stay in bottom place and in deep trouble.
The La Liga 2026 betting odds have been nudging back and forth between Catalonia and Madrid in recent weeks and now it’s over to Real Madrid who play Getafe on Monday. Anything other than a win will leave the way forward for the Blaugrana to defend their 2024/25 title and, as we reach the business end of the campaign, time will run out quickly. Barca are at the stage where they are ticking off the games and, on Saturday’s evidence, Flick’s men are full of confidence.
Real Madrid were in Champions League action in midweek as Vinicius Junior once again scored the winner in the second leg play-off against Benfica and Los Blancos will not give up the chase easily; but at the moment it’s Barcelona’s to lose.
In other La Liga 2026 news, Real Sociedad climbed up to seventh place on Saturday thanks to a hard earned win away to Real Mallorca. La Real made a terribly slow start to the campaign and have only recently appeared in the top half of the table; but they have gathered some momentum and a first half Carlos Soler goal was enough to give them a win. The loss means Mallorca stay in 18th place, a point behind Elche who have a game in hand, at home to free falling Espanyol on Sunday.
Meanwhile Sociedad’s Basque rivals Athletic Club were held to a 1-1 draw away to Rayo Vallecano and that meant they dropped below La Real down to ninth place. Vallecano are only three points above the drop zone, and they came out all guns blazing and went ahead on 35 minutes when Jorge de Frutos survived a VAR review to give the hosts a half time lead. But the advantage lasted only two minutes of the second half before Inaki Williams levelled on 47, converting a headed set-up by half time substitute Alex Berenguer.
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