It’s win or burst for the Champions at El Madrigal when they pay a visit to Fran Escribá’s Villarreal team who’s had an impressive season so far in 2016/2017. Barça need the win in a tough fixture to keep their title hopes alive and cut the deficit on leaders Real Madrid to three points after Los Blancos beat Granada 5-0 in the early Saturday fixture, here are some Match statistics and facts from the Villarreal-Barcelona game.
– FC Barcelona are unbeaten in 16 games against Villarreal in all competitions, registering 12 wins and four draws in the process. Barça scored 39 goals during this period and conceded 16 whilst keeping 5 clean sheets.
– Barça are unbeaten in their last 9 games against Villarreal at El Madrigal, registering 6 wins and three draws with their last loss there coming after a 3-1 loss in October 2007, Senna scored twice for the host while Santi Cazorla got the other goal, Bojan scored for Barça. Barça scored 16 goals during this period and conceded 7.
– The last time Barcelona lost to Villarreal was in March 2008 in the 2007/2008 at the Camp Nou after Marcos Senna and Tomasson gave them a 2-1 win, Xavi Hernández was the goalscorer for Barça. Only Andrés Iniesta and Lionel Messi were in Barcelona at that time among the current FC Barcelona squad and Villarreal finished in second, above Barça who came third in La Liga that season.
– Barça’s 4-3 loss at the Balaídos vs Celta Vigo in October is their only loss away from home in 11 La Liga games, they have won 9 and drawn just once.
– Current Villarreal coach Fran Escribá has never won a game against Barça, registering 1 draw and 7 losses in 8 games. Moreover, Luis Enrique has never lost a game against Villarreal, registering 6 wins and two draws in 8 games.
– Neymar has scored 8 goals against Villarreal, making them his favourite opponent since joining Barça. Six of these were scored in La Liga in 4 of his last 5 games against them.
– Lionel Messi has surprisingly scored only 2 goals in 12 games against Villarreal at El Madrigal, overall he’s netted 9 and provided 4 assists in 18 games against them.
– Barcelona head to head record vs Villarreal (all competitions): 38 games, 21 wins, 8 draws, 9 losses, 70 goals scored, 46 goals conceded.
– Barcelona head to head record vs Villarreal in La Liga: 32 games, 17 wins, 7 draws, 8 losses, 61 goals scored, 43 goals conceded.
– Barcelona head to head record vs Villarreal in La Liga at El Madrigal: 16 games, 8 wins, 3 draws, 5 losses, 25 goals scored, 24 goals conceded.
– Barça goalscorers vs Villarreal: Messi – 9, Neymar – 8, Iniesta, Piqué, Luis Suárez – 2, Rafinha, Rakitic – 1
SHOULD LUIS ENRIQUE CONTINUE AS BARCA COACH NEXT SEASON