Villarreal spoils Barça's party in part

Barça were unable to bid farewell to Montjuïc with a victory. Despite briefly looking like they might be able to complete another comeback against a very serious Villarreal side on the pitch, this time their intention remained just an attempt. While Lamine Yamal , with another trademark goal, and Fermín made it 2-1 after Ayoze had put the visitors ahead, Santi Comesaña and Buchanan , already in the second half, scored twice, taking advantage of defensive errors that ultimately gave Marcelino 's team the victory. [2-3: Narration and statistics]

A result that dampened, if only slightly, the long-awaited celebrations to celebrate the mathematically secured La Liga title last Thursday at Cornellà-El Prat. The crowd, despite everything, celebrated with gusto in what, barring any surprises, was for now the last official match for Barcelona in their mandatory exile while waiting to return to the Spotify Camp Nou, even if it will be with some discomfort for a while.

Villarreal perhaps capitalized on the echoes of last Friday's celebration to take an early lead at Montjuïc, in a move in which Pépé broke the offside trap and set up Ayoze, who beat Ter Stegen one-on-one. But Flick 's Barça have shown time and again this season that they never give up. And, once again, they managed to take the lead at halftime. Lamine Yamal, with another move like those he performed against Real Madrid and Espanyol, made it 1-1 in the closing stages of the first half. And Fermín, in added time, made it 2-1 with a left-footed shot from outside the area after a corner was rejected by an opponent who were playing with 10 men precisely because of Ayoze's injury.

Before that, it's also true that the visitors had some chances to slightly extend their initial lead, but it's no less true that the Blaugrana also saw Luiz Junior excel in the face of shots from Robert Lewandowski, Eric García , and Lamine himself.

The break, however, was a boon for Villarreal. Barely five minutes after the restart, the visitors leveled the score thanks to a stunning parabolic shot from Santi Comesaña, who took full advantage of one of those defensive lapses that had plagued the Blaugrana so much in the past. With the score at 2-2, the Blaugrana poured their all into trying to regain the lead, thus opening the way for a match that didn't exactly look like it would end in a draw. The home side's attacks, however, were more determined than real danger, and then the visitors would strike again, this time through Buchanan, who once again capitalized on a goal.