Barcelona 4 - Villarreal 1

Barcelona: Bonano; Puyol (Fernando 77'), Christanval, Frank De Boer, Motta; Rochemback, Xavi, Cocu; Luis Enrique (Geovanni 75'); Saviola, Kluivert. 4-3-1-2.
Villarreal: López Vallejo; Xavi Roca, Quique Alvarez, Ballesteros (Guayre 65'), Unai, Arruabarrena; Jorge López, Amor (Xavi Gracia 75'), Galca, Calleja; Víctor (Palermo 60'). 5-4-1.

Team changes: Barcelona: Frank De Boer, Cocu, Kluivert for Gabri, Abelardo, Rivaldo / Villarreal: Xavi Roca, Unai, Amor for Galván, Cagna, Guayre.

Goals:
0-1. 16. Víctor. Chested down cross from Calleja to drill ball past Bonano.
1-1. 54. Luis Enrique. Hit low shot past keeper after Saviola touched on Xavi pass.
2-1. 55. Motta. Picked up loose ball on edge of area and shot low across keeper.
3-1. 68. Kluivert. Controlled Xavi pass on thigh and shot into top corner of net.
4-1. 70. Saviola. First time shot inside area as Kluivert blocked by López Vallejo.

Barcelona bounced back from their midweek Champions League disappointment to beat struggling Villarreal 4-1 and keep up their push for a place in next year's competition. It was not easy at first though, with the visitors taking the lead into the break much to the anger of the disappointed home fans. Villarreal have been a thorn in the side of the Catalans since they made it to the top flight a couple of years ago, and they had won both of their previous league visits to the Nou Camp. Last year it was Víctor who scored twice, and the diminutive striker did it again, drilling home a shot past Bonano after chesting down a cross from Calleja with a quarter of an hour gone. After their defeat midweek the 40,000 crowd was the smallest of the season, and they jeered their own players after they went behind, with Christanval in particular the brunt of their protests after he had made comments to the press that he was thinking of moving. The French defender was obviously unsettled by the fans, and he almost gave away a second goal to Galca soon after Víctor's strike.

Barça were on top though for much of the first half, with Xavi hitting a free kick just over the bar and Saviola claiming a penalty when felled by Unai. Although the supporters gave them a hard time at the break, they came out motivated for the second half and turned the game around with four goals in a fifteen minute spell in which Saviola was involved in everything. The young forward touched on Xavi's through ball ten minutes in to the half for Luis Enrique to level the score, and a minute later it was his effort which was blocked by the defence enabling youngster Motta to drive home his first goal for the first team. Overmars had been warming up, but Rexach decided to leave him on the bench, and a battling Luis Enrique almost increased their lead, hitting the bar from an offside position and then pouncing on a bad back pass to force a good save out of López Vallejo.

Midway through the second half Kluivert got a third, controlling Xavi's pass on his thigh before shooting into the roof of the net, and Saviola himself got the fourth shooting into an empty net after Kluivert's path was blocked by the keeper. In the meantime Víctor Muñoz had brought on Guayre and Palermo, and the Argentine striker missed an easy chance to pull one back when he shot against the bar with only the keeper to beat. Calleja also went close with a dipping shot which Bonano tipped over the bar near the end. The bad news for Barcelona though were the injuries late in the game to Puyol and Luis Enrique, and both could miss next Wednesday's Champions League semi-final second leg in the Santiago Bernabeu, as could Rivaldo who has still not recovered from his ankle problems. Villarreal have problems of their own though, and they could find themselves very close to the bottom three after Sunday's games. Their last two matches against Zaragoza and Sevilla will decide their future in the top flight.