Sad end of season for Barça

Barcelona could not say goodbye to their fans this season with a victory. The team led by Xavi fell 0-2 against Villarreal in a game in which the Catalans couldn’t find a way to get their hands on their rival and in which they paid dearly for two defensive errors. Pedraza in the first half and Moi Gómez in the second took advantage of the only chances for Emery’s men and signed the last setback of the season for a team that has experienced one of the most complicated seasons in its history. The submarine, meanwhile, stamped the passport and will travel through Europe again, in this case in the Conference League.

It was a day to leave a good taste in the mouth at the Camp Nou before the holidays and the Barcelona players knew that. Xavi started from the start, despite not having anything at stake, with a team full of theoretical starters, with the intention of putting pressure on the top and with the firm idea of ​​closing the course with a victory. That was noticeable in the first few minutes in which the Blaugrana intensity surprised Villarreal. Adama Traoré and Jordi Alba constantly overflowed and the Blaugrana midfielder stepped on the area regularly. Thus came the first chances of the match with a shot by Ferran Torres that Rulli repelled and a shot by Busquets that missed the goal.

After a frenetic start to the match for Barça, the game entered a trial phase. The Catalans were unable to take advantage of their best moment and Villarreal, planted a few meters before the push from the Catalans, began to settle down and overcome the suffocating pressure of the locals with relative ease. Emery’s team looked with one eye at the onslaught of their rival and with the other the scoreboard of a Sevilla-Athletic that could exert leverage in the event that Marcelino’s team scored a goal. In that uncertainty came a goal from Yuri Berchiche annulled by the VAR at Pizjuán, the perfect spur for the submarine, which took a step forward and found a goal before the break. Parejo put Pedraza to run and the former Betis player did not forgive before the departure of Ter Stegen.

After the restart, Barcelona tripped over the same stone again. Xavi’s team wanted to lead and subdued Villarreal, but a mistake by Adama Traoré, who cleared a dead ball in the area towards the center, ended at the feet of a Moi Gómez who did not miss the gift. It was time to row before a new setback and Xavi shook the cocktail shaker giving entry to Ansu Fati, Ousmane Dembélé, who jumped onto the pitch with divided opinions, Riqui Puig and Memphis. The changes did not alter the script of a game in which Barça had to be patient with the crush of players that Unai Emery had planted in midfield.

That exercise in patience brought out all the shortcomings that Barça had in the worst moments of the season. Xavi’s men finished the League being flat, having little depth, abusing the lateral centers and aligning all this mix with a lethal defensive fragility against the success of the submarine. To make matters worse, the changes did not improve the version of the team and the chances of Dembélé and Dani Alves, with two shots from outside the area, were unable to put Rulli in trouble, who probably lived his most placid match at the Camp Nou .