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Barcelona suffered their second defeat in four days after Villarreal struck twice in stoppage time for a dramatic 5-3 victory at Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys, Azernews reports citing Eurosport.
Despite recovering from 2-0 down to lead 3-2, Xavi’s side failed to close the gap on La Liga’s top two as they came out on the wrong side of an eight-goal thriller.
After they were twice denied by the offside flag, Gerard Moreno brilliantly swept Villarreal into a 41st-minute lead, while Ilias Chakkour pounced on Joao Cancelo’s error to round Inaki Pena and double the advantage nine minutes after the restart.
However, the match turned on its head as Barca struck three times in the space of 12 minutes. Ilkay Gundogan pulled one back and Pedri’s deflected strike levelled matters, before Eric Bailly’s own-goal completed the turnaround.
However, Villarreal responded well as Goncalo Guedes fired them level and the visitors struck twice more in a dramatic late stoppage-time twist.
First, Alexander Sorloth pounced after Barca failed to clear their lines, before Jose Luis Morales compounded the hosts’ misery by rounding off a devastating counter in the dying moments.