Barca sink ten-man Yellow Submarine, extending 18-year curse

It was October 20, 2007, when Villarreal last beat Barcelona at home, and this 18-year curse will prolong for some time more, as the Catalans once again sank the Yellow Submarine - 2-0.

Even though the outcome doesn't suggest that, Barca were on the ropes throughout the opening half, but luck was on their side, and sometimes, that's all a team needs to prevail and win.

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While Villarreal missed their opportunities, the Catalans seized one of their rare chances before the break, breaking the deadlock over Raphinha from the spot in the 12th minute. However, the key moment occurred 27 minutes later when the home crew's Renato Veiga was sent off, giving the visitors a vast advantage.

Of course, they accepted it, scoring only one more goal through Lamine Yamal, but it was more than enough to peacefully get the job done and bring home three points from a tricky away ground.

During the opening half of the La Liga derby clash - especially throughout the first 25 minutes - the crowd at the packed Estadio de la Ceramica witnessed genuine fireworks.

Villarreal wasted so many chances that no one could comprehend how they failed to find the net behind Joan Garcia's back at least once. One part of the merit for it goes to Barca's custodian, and the other to pure luck.

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Nicolas Pepe, Ayoze Perez, Alberto Moleiro, Tajon Buchanan... Almost every member of the Yellow Submarine's offensive line was close to scoring, but alas, Garcia's net remained intact at the break.

On the other hand, the Catalans threatened twice, but managed to get the advantage, taking the early lead 12 minutes into the game over Raphinha, who converted a penalty kick he had earned himself, forcing Santi Comesana to make a reckless tackle in the box.

Four minutes later, the Brazilian hit the bar with an astonishing long-range effort, and that was it from the visitors, who had massive problems with Villarreal's counterattacks, but somehow managed to keep their heads above water.

In the end, they had a vast help from the home crew's Renato Veiga, who was sent off six minutes before the break, for a horrendous challenge on Lamine Yamal, crushing the Yellow Submarine's hopes of beating the Catalans at home for the first time since October 2007.

As a consequence of Veiga's dismissal, the second half was nowhere near as exciting as the first one, given that Villarreal were forced to defend with a man down. Despite the numerical advantage, Hansi Flick subbed on Robert Lewandowski and Marcus Rashford two minutes after an hour mark, and just a minute later, his crew doubled its lead - this time over Yamal, who exploited the melee in the home team's box and Frenkie de Jong's assist.

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Despite the expectations, the visitors didn't push forward too much, but rather peacefully waited for the end of the match that brought them a new set of points. Although disadvantaged, Villarreal threatened a few times over Georges Mikautadze and Rafa Marin, but didn't spoil the Catalans' clean-sheet victory.

Thanks to this vital road win, Barca maintained a four-point edge over Real Madrid at the top of the La Liga table, while the Yellow Submarine failed to leapfrog Atletico Madrid and take back the third position, and now sits in fourth place. Now a break awaits Spanish sides, which will play again on January 3. The Catalans face Espanyol in the city derby and Villarreal play Elche, both on the road.

LA LIGA - MATCHDAY 17

Friday

Valencia - Mallorca 1-1 (0-1)

/Duro 52 - Costa 23/

Saturday

Oviedo - Celta 0-0

Levante - Real Sociedad 1-1 (0-1)

/De la Fuente 90+4 - Kubo 45+1/

Osasuna - Alaves 3-0 (0-0)

/Budimir 72, 81 pen, De Haro 90+3/

Real Madrid - Sevilla 2-0 (1-0)

/Bellingham 38, Mbappe 86 pen/

Sunday

Girona - Atletico Madrid 0-3 (0-2)

/Koke 13, Gallagher 38, Griezmann 90+2/

Villarreal - Barcelona 0-2 (0-1)

/Raphinha 12 pen, Yamal 63/

20.30: (2.50) Elche (3.10) Rayo Vallecano (3.30)

23.00: (1.73) Betis (3.50) Getafe (5.30)

Monday

23.00: (1.80) Ath.Bilbao (3.60) Espanyol (5.10)

***odds are subject to change***