After sobering results in two of the most important games of the season, FC Barcelona is in a crisis: in the Champions League there is a risk of an early end, the coach is already talking about his own end. A surprisingly clear victory is good for that.
Robert Lewandowski shot FC Barcelona almost single-handedly to a 3-0 (3-0) win over Villarreal FC. The 34-year-old footballer scored in the 31st and 35th minute of the home game on Thursday evening to give Barcelona a 2-0 lead. For the former Bundesliga star, it was his tenth and eleventh goals in the Spanish league on matchday ten. Ansu Fati (38th) made the preliminary decision before the change. Barcelona remain second in the table. Real Madrid are top of the list. The Champions League winner had won 3-0 (1-0) at FC Elche the day before.
Before the game, Lewandowski was presented with the Gerd Müller Trophy, which is awarded to the most dangerous goalscorer of the season. And the Pole was quick to confirm the accolade: Villarreal had previously conceded three goals in nine league games, and against Barça they conceded three more in seven minutes. “It was all over at half time. Goodbye to the crisis,” wrote the Spanish sports newspaper “Marca”. After a bitter week, with a last-minute 3-3 draw against Inter Milan that brought the club close to losing out in the second round of the Champions League and a 3-1 Clásico defeat by arch-rivals Real Madrid, the side urgently need to and quickly get back on the road to success.
“We played a great game, it was our turn, we had to react. It wasn’t easy because a lot was expected of us after the bad results,” said coach Xavi Hernandez after the important win. “There are a lot of expectations this season and we showed our face and character. We scored three goals against a team that conceded the fewest goals and we felt good overall.
Xavi recently spoke very openly about his situation: “Everyone encourages me. I have a cell phone that looks like a relative has died. If I don’t make it, there will be consequences, but I’m staying calm. I think we will have the team to win titles, if we don’t win them, another coach will come and try.” The heavily indebted FC Barcelona had strengthened themselves for over 150 million euros before the season and had to make money early on in the form of future media income.
