Are you 24 or older?

Help us verify your age by providing an honest response. This site contains gambling advertising for 24+.

Age-restricted content

You’re not old enough to view betting content. You’ll be redirected to the homepage.

alt
LiveTickets
This page contains affiliate links. When you purchase through the links provided, we may earn a commission.
Barcelona split 2025Getty/GOAL
Mitchell Fretton

Barcelona player ratings vs Villarreal: Lamine Yamal is outrageous - but Robert Lewandowski and Raphinha suffer title hangovers before Marc-Andre ter Stegen marks return with costly error

Player ratings
Barcelona
L. Yamal
LaLiga
Barcelona vs Villarreal
Originals

The Blaugrana showed glimpses of their brilliant selves but did not have enough in the tank to overcome their Champions League-chasing opponents

Advanced protection across 11 devices with high-speed VPN
ExpressVPN

Advanced

Those that sign up for ExpressVPN's most popular plan, the Advance plan, gain access to a high-speed VPN, which offers high-capacity 40Gbps servers in many high-demand locations, with VPN servers in 113 countries worldwide.

The VPN can be applied across 12 different devices simultaneously, and offers Advanced Protection that blocks ads, trackers and malicious and adult websites. A dedicated IP is available to be purchased as an add-on.

Additionally, ExpressVPN's Advanced plan includes the ExpressMailGuard, which offers a 100MB/month private email relay plus 50 shared aliases and a custom domain, and ExpressKeys, which gives users a password management facility for an unlimited number of passwords plus a 2FA authenticator.

There is a 30-day money-back guarantee for new users. The plan is available on a one-month rolling contract, although those that sign up for a 12-month plan (offering one year plus an extra three months) can save more than 60%, while those that sign up for a two-year plan (offering two years plus an extra four months) can save 73%. Both longer-term plans include a 3GB holiday.com eSIM that is valid for three days in 150+ destinations.

Over 28 monthsSave 73%
Protect 14 devices with the top ExpressVPN plan
ExpressVPN

Pro

Those that sign up for ExpressVPN's top-tier Express Pro plan gain access to a high-speed VPN, which offers high-capacity 40Gbps servers in many high-demand locations, with VPN servers in 113 countries worldwide.

The VPN can be applied across 14 different devices simultaneously, and offers Advanced Protection that blocks ads, trackers and malicious and adult websites. A dedicated IP is included with the Express Pro plan.

Additionally, ExpressVPN's Advanced plan includes the ExpressMailGuard, which offers an unlimited private email relay plus an unlimited number of shared aliases and 20 custom domains, ExpressKeys, which gives users a password management facility for an unlimited number of passwords plus a 2FA authenticator, and ExpressAI, an AI assistant that offers 500 credits a day, six AI models, a web search facility plus 2GB storage.

There is a 30-day money-back guarantee for new users. The plan is available on a one-month rolling contract, although those that sign up for a 12-month plan (offering one year plus an extra three months) can save around 60%, while those that sign up for a two-year plan (offering two years plus an extra four months) can save 67%. Both longer-term plans include a 3GB holiday.com eSIM that is valid for five days in 150+ destinations.

Over 28 monthsSave 67%
Protect 10 devices with high-speed VPN
ExpressVPN

Basic

Those that sign up for ExpressVPN's entry-level Basic plan gain access to a high-speed VPN, which offers high-capacity 40Gbps servers in many high-demand locations, with VPN servers in 113 countries worldwide.

The VPN can be applied across 10 different devices simultaneously, and offers Lite Protection that blocks ads and malicious and adult websites. A dedicated IP is available to be purchased as an add-on.

Additionally, ExpressVPN's Basic plan includes the ExpressMailGuard, which offers a 10MB/month private email relay plus 10 shared aliases.

There is a 30-day money-back guarantee for new users. The plan is available on a one-month rolling contract, although those that sign up for a 12-month plan (offering one year plus an extra three months) can save more than 60%, while those that sign up for a two-year plan (offering two years plus an extra four months) can save 80%.

Over 28 monthsSave 80%
Advanced protection across 11 devices with high-speed VPN
ExpressVPN

Advanced

Those that sign up for ExpressVPN's most popular plan, the Advance plan, gain access to a high-speed VPN, which offers high-capacity 40Gbps servers in many high-demand locations, with VPN servers in 113 countries worldwide.

The VPN can be applied across 12 different devices simultaneously, and offers Advanced Protection that blocks ads, trackers and malicious and adult websites. A dedicated IP is available to be purchased as an add-on.

Additionally, ExpressVPN's Advanced plan includes the ExpressMailGuard, which offers a 100MB/month private email relay plus 50 shared aliases and a custom domain, and ExpressKeys, which gives users a password management facility for an unlimited number of passwords plus a 2FA authenticator.

There is a 30-day money-back guarantee for new users. The plan is available on a one-month rolling contract, although those that sign up for a 12-month plan (offering one year plus an extra three months) can save more than 60%, while those that sign up for a two-year plan (offering two years plus an extra four months) can save 73%. Both longer-term plans include a 3GB holiday.com eSIM that is valid for three days in 150+ destinations.

Over 28 monthsSave 73%
Protect 14 devices with the top ExpressVPN plan
ExpressVPN

Pro

Those that sign up for ExpressVPN's top-tier Express Pro plan gain access to a high-speed VPN, which offers high-capacity 40Gbps servers in many high-demand locations, with VPN servers in 113 countries worldwide.

The VPN can be applied across 14 different devices simultaneously, and offers Advanced Protection that blocks ads, trackers and malicious and adult websites. A dedicated IP is included with the Express Pro plan.

Additionally, ExpressVPN's Advanced plan includes the ExpressMailGuard, which offers an unlimited private email relay plus an unlimited number of shared aliases and 20 custom domains, ExpressKeys, which gives users a password management facility for an unlimited number of passwords plus a 2FA authenticator, and ExpressAI, an AI assistant that offers 500 credits a day, six AI models, a web search facility plus 2GB storage.

There is a 30-day money-back guarantee for new users. The plan is available on a one-month rolling contract, although those that sign up for a 12-month plan (offering one year plus an extra three months) can save around 60%, while those that sign up for a two-year plan (offering two years plus an extra four months) can save 67%. Both longer-term plans include a 3GB holiday.com eSIM that is valid for five days in 150+ destinations.

Over 28 monthsSave 67%
Protect 10 devices with high-speed VPN
ExpressVPN

Basic

Those that sign up for ExpressVPN's entry-level Basic plan gain access to a high-speed VPN, which offers high-capacity 40Gbps servers in many high-demand locations, with VPN servers in 113 countries worldwide.

The VPN can be applied across 10 different devices simultaneously, and offers Lite Protection that blocks ads and malicious and adult websites. A dedicated IP is available to be purchased as an add-on.

Additionally, ExpressVPN's Basic plan includes the ExpressMailGuard, which offers a 10MB/month private email relay plus 10 shared aliases.

There is a 30-day money-back guarantee for new users. The plan is available on a one-month rolling contract, although those that sign up for a 12-month plan (offering one year plus an extra three months) can save more than 60%, while those that sign up for a two-year plan (offering two years plus an extra four months) can save 80%.

Over 28 monthsSave 80%
Advanced protection across 11 devices with high-speed VPN
ExpressVPN

Advanced

Those that sign up for ExpressVPN's most popular plan, the Advance plan, gain access to a high-speed VPN, which offers high-capacity 40Gbps servers in many high-demand locations, with VPN servers in 113 countries worldwide.

The VPN can be applied across 12 different devices simultaneously, and offers Advanced Protection that blocks ads, trackers and malicious and adult websites. A dedicated IP is available to be purchased as an add-on.

Additionally, ExpressVPN's Advanced plan includes the ExpressMailGuard, which offers a 100MB/month private email relay plus 50 shared aliases and a custom domain, and ExpressKeys, which gives users a password management facility for an unlimited number of passwords plus a 2FA authenticator.

There is a 30-day money-back guarantee for new users. The plan is available on a one-month rolling contract, although those that sign up for a 12-month plan (offering one year plus an extra three months) can save more than 60%, while those that sign up for a two-year plan (offering two years plus an extra four months) can save 73%. Both longer-term plans include a 3GB holiday.com eSIM that is valid for three days in 150+ destinations.

Over 28 monthsSave 73%

Three days after claiming the La Liga crown, Lamine Yamal's brilliance could not prevent champions Barcelona from falling to a 3-2 defeat at the hands of Villarreal.

It was a slow, albeit perhaps expectedly sluggish start from the newly-crowned league winners, who found themselves 1-0 down inside four minutes when former Arsenal winger Nicolas Pepe beat the high Barca line and raced in behind before finding Ayoze Perez, who made no mistake in slotting the ball past Marc-Andre ter Stegen to silence the home crowd.

With work to do, Barca ramped up the intensity and took control of the game, fashioning plenty of chances in the first half. Fermin Lopez had two big opportunities to draw his side level, but was thwarted by goalkeeper Luiz Junior. But after Robert Lewandowski and Inigo Martinez also went close, up stepped Yamal with another moment of magic. The 17-year-old sensation pulled off another trademark move, cutting inside on the edge of the box before whipping a left-footed effort into the far corner.

Just before the break, Flick's side had the lead they were looking for. On the brink of the half-time whistle, the ball fell to Fermin on the edge of the box, and the midfielder took one touch before lashing the ball on the volley towards goal, where it cannoned in off the post minutes after Yamal had hit the woodwork himself with another audacious effort.

The second half started off in a similarly frantic fashion, with Villarreal once again grabbing a goal early on. This time, Yeremy Pino picked up the ball on the far side, before slipping Santi Comesana in and the midfielder calmly chipped the onrushing Ter Stegen to level things once more.

Despite the home side dominating the ball as they did in the first half, Barca were hit by a hammer blow with 10 minutes to go when a classic counter-attack saw Gerard Moreno find space to cross on the left-hand side and his ball fell all the way through to Tajon Buchanon to slot home and make it 3-2.

A flurry of substitutions and relentless pressure from Barca in the final minutes was not enough to drag themselves back into the game, handing the points to Villarreal and allowing them to secure a place in the Champions League for next season.

GOAL rates Barcelona's players from Estadi Olímpic Lluis Companys.

  • FC Barcelona v Villarreal CF - La Liga EA SportsGetty Images Sport

    Goalkeeper & Defence

    Marc-Andre ter Stegen (4/10):

    Struggled on his return to the starting XI, often too late off his line before slipping for the third goal.

    Eric Garcia (7/10):

    Had a solid shift in place of Kounde and received a standing ovation when taken off in the second half.

    Pau Cubarsi (5/10):

    Did not look out of place alongside Martinez and did well a few times to step up and snatch the ball from Villarreal attackers.

    Inigo Martinez (6/10):

    Looked good for the most part and even had a few opportunities to score in the match, but ultimately was part of a backline that conceded three goals.

    Gerard Martin (6/10):

    Had a quiet first half before being replaced by Balde at half-time.

  • FC Barcelona v Villarreal CF - La Liga EA SportsGetty Images Sport

    Midfield

    Gavi (6/10):

    Had a quiet night in midfield but got stuck in where he needed to and helped keep Barca on the front foot, despite the scoreline.

    Fermin Lopez (8/10):

    Stepped up into the attacking midfield role with confidence and proved his worth with a cracking strike before the break.

    Pedri (7/10):

    Looked sharp in the middle of the park but was preserved by Flick, swapping out for De Jong in the second half.

  • FC Barcelona v Villarreal CF - La Liga EA SportsGetty Images Sport

    Attack

    Lamine Yamal (9/10):

    Proved once again why he is revered as the biggest talent since Lionel Messi. Scored another trademark strike and could have had at least a hat-trick on the night.

    Robert Lewandowski (4/10):

    Had an incredibly quiet night as he chases down Kylian Mbappe for the Pichichi and looked frustrated after being hooked with 20 minutes to go.

    Raphinha (5/10):

    Like Lewandowski, was off the pace in the match and had a few tame efforts that never troubled the Villarreal goal.

    • ENJOYED THIS STORY?

    Add GOAL.com as a preferred source on Google to see more of our reporting

    Follow GOAL on Google
  • FC Barcelona v Villarreal CF - La Liga EA SportsGetty Images Sport

    Subs & Manager

    Alejandro Balde (6/10):

    Could not stop Villarreal from grabbing a winner after coming on.

    Frenkie de Jong (7/10):

    Was heavily involved after coming on at half-time, dictating the play and pressing the Villarreal midfielders at every chance.

    Pau Victor (5/10):

    Was not too involved in his 15-minute cameo.

    Hector Fort (5/10):

    Like Victor, did not do too much after coming on.

    Dani Olmo (N/A):

    Was introduced for the final five minutes.

    Hansi Flick (5/10):

    Clearly wanted to give opportunities to younger players and may have sacrificed the chance to win the game by doing so.

Next matches
BAR

BAR

Champions League

03 Nov 2026

AVL

AVL