Barcelona won 4-0 over Villarreal in the debut match of coach Ronald Koeman at the Camp Nou on Monday (28/9).
Barcelona, who acted as the host, dominated the game from the first minute. The result was that the Blaugrana were 1-0 up after only 15 minutes of action thanks to Ansu Fati’s goal.
Jordi Alba’s low pass from the left side of the attack was greeted by Ansu Fati’s hard kick which lodged into the right corner of Sergio Asenjo’s goal.
Four minutes later, Ansu Fati again listed his name on the scoreboard. The 17-year-old winger did not waste Philippe Coutinho’s pass to make it 2-0.
Villarreal, who were behind 0-2, tried to react. However, the efforts of Unai Emery’s squad also did not bear fruit because their counter-attack scheme did not go well.
Villarreal’s goal was conceded again in the middle of an attempt to reduce the position. Barcelona’s third goal came from Lionel Messi’s penalty after Ansu Fati was violated by an opposing player in the penalty box.
Barcelona seemed dissatisfied with three goals. At the end of the first half, Barcelona managed to lead 4-0 after Messi’s bait into the penalty box which Pau Torres tried to block led to an own goal.
In the second half, Villarreal played better. Several opportunities were created through Samuel Chukwueze, Gerard Moreno, to Takefusa Kubo but were unable to thrill the Barcelona goal that was escorted by Neto.
Whereas in the home camp, their dominance in the second half created many chances through Messi, Ansu Fati and Antoine Griezmann but Asenjo always countered them. As a result, the score 4-0 did not change until the referee blew the long whistle.
Lionel Messi still performed well when Barcelona beat Villarreal. Barcelona vs Villarreal at Camp Nou was Messi’s first match to appear without his friend Luis Suarez, who was dumped by the Blaugrana. Suarez is now an Atletico Madrid striker.
In the match against Villarreal, Ansu Fati was indeed the man of the match with his two goals. But Messi remains in the spotlight, especially after his desire to leave Barcelona and Suarez’s banishment from Ronald Koeman’s squad surfaced.
He was installed as a false nine striker by Koeman. Throughout the match he changed positions and roles with Antoine Griezmann.
Messi performed well with several times he created chances. The opportunity for a penalty awarded in the 35th minute was not wasted by the Argentine to change the position 3-0.
Messi is also the actor behind Barcelona’s fourth goal. Pau Torres tried to push his bait to Sergio Busquets, but the ball slid into the net itself.
In the second half Messi also made several chances. Unfortunately Sergio Asenjo’s greatness made Messi fail to add to his goal.
Overall Messi still looks okay despite losing Suarez. So far, Messi and Suarez’s chemistry has been an advantage for Barcelona in undergoing every match in the last few seasons.
On the other hand, Luis Suarez, who made his debut with Atletico against Granada, also performed well. He created two goals in the first game.
That debut is enough to prove Suarez can still appear sharp even though he is not with Messi on the field as a teammate.
