Barca punish 10-man hosts Villarreal to win eighth consecutive La Liga game and move four points clear at the summit.
Barcelona wingers Raphinha and Lamine Yamal guided the Catalan giants four points clear at the top of La Liga with a 2-0 win at 10-man Villarreal.
Brazil international Raphinha won and converted an early penalty on Sunday before Villarreal’s Renato Veiga was sent off before half-time for a late lunge on teenager Yamal.
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The 18-year-old slotted home Barca’s second midway through the second half, as Hansi Flick’s side restored their advantage on Real Madrid, who are second, and won an eighth consecutive league game.
Villarreal are fourth after Atletico Madrid moved ahead of them with a 3-0 win at Girona earlier on.
Flick launched into an impassioned defence of Raphinha on Saturday after he was not included in FIFA’s ‘The Best’ team of the year earlier in the week, and the winger quickly repaid his coach.
Raphinha produced an all-action display at Villarreal’s Estadio de la Ceramica, where the match was played instead of in Miami, after La Liga’s plans to take this game to the United States were scrapped in October.
Barca were poor defensively and struggled in their build-up play, but the quality of wingers Raphinha and Yamal and their goalkeeper Joan Garcia’s outstanding performance decided an entertaining encounter.
Jules Kounde blocked Villarreal striker Ayoze Perez’s shot before Raphinha drew a foul from Santi Comesana to win a penalty at the other end.
The winger dispatched it confidently and nearly added the second with a superb effort from distance, which crashed back off the bar.
Kounde deflected a cross into his own net as Villarreal fought back, but the goal was disallowed for offside in the build-up.
Barca stopper Joan Garcia saved from Tajon Buchanan after an Alejandro Balde mistake as Villarreal almost levelled.
The visitors’ job was made easier by Veiga’s needless red card for an ugly, late lunge on Yamal before the interval.
The champions got their second goal after a scramble in the box, with Frenkie de Jong teeing up Yamal to fire home after 63 minutes.
Joan Garcia made stunning saves to deny Rafa Marin and Georges Mikautadze to help Barca end 2026 with three points and a third clean sheet in their last three games across all competitions.
Kounde went off hurt before the end, potentially adding to Flick’s problems at the back following Andreas Christensen’s diagnosis with a partially torn knee ligament.
Barca finish the year in better shape than rivals Real Madrid, who beat Sevilla 2-0 on Saturday, but still have plenty of their own concerns to worry about.
Barcelona captain de Jong said his side had achieved their objective of finishing the year on top of the league and will rest before the league resumes in early January.
“Villarreal are very quick on the counter; they’ve got talented players up front. We could’ve managed to be a bit better… We have to organise ourselves a bit better,” he said.
“But I felt out there on the pitch that we were superior. Not necessarily comfortable, but I think we deserved to win.”
Villarreal captain Dani Parejo said he was pleased with how his team performed, apart from conceding the penalty.
“We had loads of really good chances; we could have been more than one goal up at halftime,” he said.
“It feels like everything is going against us at the moment; teams are scoring against us with not much, but we are pleased with the image we have shown, how we played with 10 men against a great team. We showed great attitude.”
