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Barcelona lost 2-0 to Villarreal on Sunday, May 22 - their first loss after a five-game unbeaten streak - as the club ended their La Liga campaign on a shoddy note.
They were expected to garner all three points, irrespective of their consolidated second position, but the Blaugrana failed to realise the expectations. It didn't help that they had won their last 10 home games in a row against Villarreal. But in this game, Barca lacked the clinical ability to see this game through from the get-go.
The game started with the home side putting heavy pressure on the visitors, gathering chances in the final third to the excitement of their fans. Before long, however, it started to look like Barcelona wouldn't be able to find the opening goal.
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The ruthless Yellow Submarine wall that knocked Bayern Munich out of the Champions League was alive and well here. Barca struggled to find big chances. Even when Villarreal stumbled defensively, Xavi Hernandez's men were unable to convert those opportunities into goals.
Suddenly, after a large spell of possession in Villarreal's half, Barca floundered and the visitors found their chance, which did not go to waste. Alfonso Pedraza was on hand to score the opening goal in the 41st minute, thanks to a brilliantly threaded through-pass from Dani Parejo.
Marc-Andre ter Stegen was unable to do anything as Pedraza's well-taken shot was put past him and into the back of the net.
Geronimo Rulli made some important saves to keep Barcelona from equalizing in the first half, with both teams going in for the half-time break with Villarreal ahead.
Barcelona provide zero remedies for the second half
Their lack of clinical efficiency hurt the Blaugrana in the first half, but Xavi Hernandez's half-time team talk did little to inspire the hosts to find the cutting edge.
The second half began in similar tones to the first, with Villarreal defending hard and Barca sitting high and probing for scoring opportunities. It did not work in the hosts' favour as the visitors added their second goal of the game within ten minutes of the restart.
This time, it was Moi Gomez who found the net after a rather shoddy clearance from Adama Traore. The star played his part by getting back to help the defense with an interception, but he cleared the ball poorly, handing it to Gomez who wasted no time in converting.
The midfielder roofed the ball beyond Ter Stegen to double their lead, while Barcelona continued to stumble.
Xavi's men failed to muster any clinical attacking instinct, with the vast majority of their shots going wide. They did manage to score a goal from close range thanks to Frenkie de Jong, but the offside flag went up to stall their celebrations.
Here is how Twitter reacted to Barca's rather poor showing in their last La Liga game of the season:
