Villarreal 4 - Barcelona 4

Villarreal: López Vallejo; Xavi Roca, Quique Medina, Quique Alvarez, Arruabarrena; Jorge López, Amor, Javier Gracia, Calleja (Tasevski 58'); Víctor (Craioveanu 88'), Palermo (Moisés 85'). 4-4-2.
Barcelona: Reina; Gabri (Puyol 46'), Reiziger, Frank De Boer, Sergi (Simao 46'); Cocu, Guardiola; Luis Enrique, Rivaldo, Overmars (De la Peña 70'); Kluivert. 4-2-3-1.

Team changes: Villarreal: Quique Alvarez, Calleja for Berruet, Cagna / Barcelona: Guardiola for Xavi.

Goals:
1-0. 11. Víctor. Picked up loose ball on right of area and drilled past keeper.
2-0. 18. Calleja. Blasted ball into roof of net after Palermo miskicked shot.
3-0. 20. Víctor. Jumped on loose pass by Guardiola to shoot over Reina.
3-1. 38. Kluivert. Header from six yard box after Guardiola corner.
3-2. 54. Kluivert. Stroked ball into net after cross from Simao on right wing.
3-3. 61. Rivaldo. Controlled Guardiola pass on chest and volleyed keeper.
4-3. 65. Jorge López. Folling up after Palermo shot hit foot of post.
4-4. 93. Kluivert. Lifted ball over keeper after long Guardiola pass.

A Patrick Kluivert hat-trick helped Barcelona back from three goals down to snatch a last minute point at Villarreal. In one of the most exciting games of the season, Villarreal raced to a 3-0 lead within twenty minutes of the kick off, with Víctor on excellent form taking advantage of elementary mistakes by the Barcelona defence. Víctor scored twice, the first shooting between Cocu and Reina after the defence failed to clear, and the second after Guardiola was caught with the ball, the striker spotting Reina off his line and floating a long shot over his head and in to the net. In between Calleja got his first goal for the club, nobody closing him down as the ball bobbled free in the penalty area after Palermo had failed to connect properly. Calleja had only come in to the side as a replacement for Cagna, who broke his leg in training earlier in the week, and who will be out for the rest of the season.

At last Barcelona woke up from their sleep, and Kluivert pulled one back from Guardiola's corner. A minute later referee Iturralde González disallowed a Luis Enrique goal for offside, and three minutes after that awarded a penalty to the visitors for a foul on Rivaldo by ex Blaugrana Quique Alvarez. Rivaldo stepped up to take the kick, but for the first time in three years missed, his shot hitting the foot of the post and bouncing clear. At half time Serra Ferrer switched to his old 3-2-3-2 formation, replacing Gabri with Puyol and bringing on Simao, back in the squad after a long lay off. The introduction of the young Portuguese winger added pace on the right wing, and ten minutes in to the second half he laid the ball in for Kluivert's second of the night. Víctor Muñoz decided to defend his lead, and with Unai out to the end of the season and Berruet suspended he brought on Tasevski as a third central defender. They could do nothing though as Guardiola found Rivaldo with a pinpoint pass for the Brazilian star to make up for his penalty miss, controlling the ball on his chest before shooting past López Vallejo.

Barcelona were back, but for the second time in the match Guardiola was caught on the ball and Palermo broke free, shooting against the foot of the post. The ball fell to Jorge López wide on the left, and this time he made sure, placing a shot past Reina in to the empty net. That made it 4-3, and Serra Ferrer played his last card, Iván De la Peña coming on for his first appearance since the beginning of November. Villarreal defended furiously, but in the second minute of injury time Guardiola once again played the ball through, and Kluivert raced on to lift it over the keeper for his hat-trick. Barcelona had held on to the vital fourth spot in the league, only one point now ahead of Mallorca in the race for the last Champions League spot. Villarreal were gutted, and they drop out of the top six for the first time in several weeks as Celta and also Alavés go past them. They visit Real Madrid next week, but after that the worst is over, and they should bounce back. They deserve a place in Europe next season.