La Liga 18/19: Villareal 4-4 Barcelona - 5 talking points from the match

#1 Lionel Messi the difference maker

Messi was a real difference maker

Messi's value to Barcelona is not without doubt. His status as the greatest player in the club's history means he has been essential to everything won by the team in the last decade and everything they look to win.

The Argentine international has kept up with his impressive displays this season and has been the major driving force behind Barcelona's quest for a third treble, leading the way with most goals scored and assists created.

This led even Valverde himself to state before the match that it is never a good idea to rest Messi and the 55-year-old soon found out literally how true that statement was less than 24 hours later.

For 61 minutes, Lionel Messi watched on from the sidelines as his teammates struggled to put Villareal to the sword and it goes without saying that he had a hand in Barcelona's stunning last-minute comeback.

Freekicks are rapidly becoming a specialty of Lionel Messi and Villareal became the latest to feel his deadly accuracy from setpieces as he smashed an unstoppable free-kick over the wall and into the back of the net to pave the way for Luis Suarez's equalizer moments later.