Barcelona successfully passed the final test of 2025 and defeated Villarreal 2-0 away tonight in the 18th round of La Liga.
The Blaugrana go into the break as leaders, and close the first round of the championship on January 3rd in the city derby with Espanyol. Hansi Flick's team is four points ahead of Real Madrid, and nine ahead of Atletico Madrid.
Villarreal was the first to threaten tonight through Pepe and Perez, but Barcelona took the lead when Rafinha converted a penalty in the 12th minute.
Four minutes later, the Brazilian hit the crossbar, Villarreal threatened on several occasions through Buchanan, and then the home team was left with a man down in the 39th minute, when Veiga fouled Jamal and received a straight red card.
At the beginning of the second half, Junior made a good stop on Jamal, but he could do nothing in the 63rd minute, when the Spanish international set up the final score.
Villarreal could have scored today, the "yellow submarine" created chances, while Marin and Mikautadze were inaccurate towards the end, and Garcia excelled in the Barca goal.
Barça defeated Villarreal away for the seventh time in a row. On the other hand, Villarreal suffered their first home defeat in La Liga since March.
Bonus video:
