Barcelona have moved within two games of a historic unbeaten La Liga campaign after they dispatched meek Villarreal with a 5-1 victory.
It was only three days since Sunday’s full-blooded, 2-2 draw with Real Madrid in El Clasico, but the runaway top-flight champions showed no sign of cracking against limp sixth-placed visitors to Camp Nou.
Head coach Ernesto Valverde rung a number of changes to little negative effect.
Brazil playmaker Philippe Coutinho followed in to open the scoring after excellent France winger Ousmane Dembele’s 11th-minute shot. Countryman Paulinho then tapped home, before untouchable Argentina forward Lionel Messi converted Spain attacking midfielder Andres Iniesta’s sublime pass to move onto 45 goals from all competitions in 2017/18.
The second half began with a deflected retort from emerging Villarreal starlet Pablo Fornals. But a late rally saw Dembele deservedly get a brace, first tapping in Croatia midfielder Ivan Rakitic’s pass and then producing a chipped solo goal of staggering quality.
Here, we analyse the performance of flying winger Dembele.
STATISTICS
Goals – 2
Assists – 0
Shots – 3
Shots on target – 3
Touches – 72
Passes – 42
Key passes – 0
Dribbles – 6
Rakitic class set up leading to Dembele’s first pic.twitter.com/K7J0iynsys
— M. (@PeakDembouz) May 9, 2018
30-SECOND REPORT
Dembele in full flight is one graceful sight. The Frenchman was superb and his performance, albeit against one-paced opponents, serves as a denunciation of Valverde’s restraint in Rome for not starting the winger.
Stationed on the right of a 4-3-3, he tore through the channels with an intoxicating mix of piercing speed, tricks and flicks.
He operated fairly narrow in the half space of the right-side, allowing for full-back Nelson Semedo to spring into the open space as Dembele dragged defenders inside, the pair forming an enterprising partnership.
The 20-year-old also showed a key asset Barca have seldom had in breaking open defences and he topped an influential performance with two well-deserved goals.
GOT RIGHT
Skill to pay his bill – Dembele is a footballer you imagine was a nightmare at youth level. He displayed a full repertoire of fancy flicks and tricks in a skillful performance.
Semedo link-up – Emerging on Barca’s right is quite the partnership as Semedo and Dembele frequently combined to slice open Villarreal.
Finishing – It’s now three goals in La Liga this season for Dembele and if he can carry the swagger he showed for his second against Villarreal into next season, he’ll plunder plenty more.
Gorgeous pass by Iniesta, but Messi made that finish look MUCH easier than it was. Narrow angle, ball dropping over his shoulder, keeper coming out. Exquisite touch.
— Andy West (@andywest01) May 9, 2018
KEY MOMENTS
10th min ASSIST: Receives the ball near the halfway line, twists past two Villarreal players, accelerates into space, drops his shoulder once, repeats the trick and his fierce strike is parried on to the feet of Coutinho to finish.
17th minute SKILL: Gorgeous first-time flick into the path of Semedo who then plays a one-two with Messi but receives the ball in an offside position.
26th minute CROSS: Semedo slices Villarreal open with a slick ball into acres for Dembele, he bursts into open space then fires a cross into Messi only for Ruiz to head away for a corner.
40th minute CROSS: Messi slides the ball into the stride of Dembele, who runs all the way to the six-yard box before giving it back, but the Argentine wasn’t expecting the return.
88th minute GOAL: Ivan Rakitic skates through on the right, rides the challenge of Jaume Costa and breaks to the byline before cutting back to allow Dembele to simply tap home.
92nd minute GOAL: Ball breaks to Dembele on the halfway line, he slaloms past three Villarreal defenders before beautifully lifting the ball over the onrushing Sergio Asenjo.
VERDICT
Dembele can be uncontrollable at times. His dexterity to switch between either foot makes him so difficult to defend against and when you throw in his speed and balance, he’s an impressive force.
A man-of-the-match display and his second of the evening was just exquisite, well worth a watch.
RATING: 9/10
All statistics are compiled using whoscored.com
