The Blaugrana bounced back from their Clasico loss with a 3-0 home La Liga win over Villarreal on Thursday, thanks to a brace from Robert Lewandowski. Xavi’s side, however, remained second in the table with 25 points, three behind Real Madrid, who cruised past Elche 3-0 on Wednesday.
Xavi promised to shake things up, and he delivered, making five changes to a team that was completely outclassed in a Sunday’s loss to Real Madrid. That was another major setback for the Catalans, who are on the verge of being eliminated from the Champions League after a 3-3 home draw with Inter Milan last week.
Ansu Fati shone for Barcelona on Thursday, creating three great early chances before Lewandowski scored in the 31st minute. The Poland striker brilliantly controlled the ball inside from Jordi Alba’s low cross and shook off two defenders with a subtle touch before turning to finish with a powerful shot.
The hosts scored three goals in seven minutes, including a precise curling shot from the edge of the box to finish off a counter-attack after Pedri stole the ball close to the centre circle.
Three minutes later, Fati scored Barcelona’s third goal, converting a close-range shot from a low cross by Ferran Torres. With the points secured, Barcelona eased off the gas after the break, but comfortably maintained their lead.
Meanwhile, Federico Valverde, Karim Benzema, and Marco Asensio scored for Real Madrid in a 3-0 La Liga win over Elche, and the leaders had three goals disallowed by VAR for offside in the build-ups.
The defending champions dominated the game from the start and had several chances, the first in the sixth minute when Benzema’s strike was ruled out due to offside against Vinicius Jr. After a Benzema effort rebounded off the defence, in-form Valverde gave Real the lead in the 11th minute with a brilliant technical strike from the edge of the area.
In the 25th minute, David Alaba scored after a beautiful combination with Benzema, who found him with a wall pass, but the goal was ruled out for offside.
In the 60th minute, Benzema stroked in from a Dani Carvajal cross, but the full-back was inches ahead of the defensive line in the buildup, and thus that effort was ruled out.
After neat interplay with Rodrygo, who assisted the 2022 Ballon d’Or winner with a clever back-heel pass, Benzema finally extended Real’s lead in the 75th minute.
