Villarreal, a tough opponent for Guardiola

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29.08.2011 12:16

Guardiola has only beaten Villarreal once at the Camp Nou

Ana�s Mart�

In the last three Villarreal visits to the Camp Nou, Guardiola�s Bar�a have drawn twice and won only once, last season.

Guardiola has only beaten Villarreal once at the Camp Nou

Puyol, 500 games for Bar�a

In the last match between FC Barcelona and Villarreal at the Camp Nou, Carles Puyol celebrated 500 games in a FC Barcelona shirt.

Villarreal are one of the teams that have made things more difficult for Guardiola. In the 2008/09 season the then Pellegrini’s Villareal forced Bar�a to postpone their League celebrations, drawing 3-3, with a goal in injury time. The following season, in 2010, the Camp Nou was paying tribute to Bar�a’s 6 trophy winning side. That day Bar�a drew 1-1 against the team in yellow. Finally, last season, Guardiola’s team managed to win a hard fought game 3-1.

Celebration of the League title, postponed

The first time Bar�a, coached by Pep Guardiola, and Villarreal met at the Camp Nou was on May 10, 2009. Bar�a were facing their first “match ball” to proclaim themselves League Champions. Bar�a went 3-1 up, thanks to goals from Keita, Eto'o, and Alves, but Villarreal came back to draw in the closing stages of the match, postponing the celebrations of the first League Championship under Guardiola. Bar�a had to wait until the following weekend to be proclaimed Champions.

Second game, 1-1 draw

The yellow submarine came back to spoil the Bar�a party again the following season. The Camp Nou was hoping to start the 2010 season, by paying tribute to Bar�a’s 6 trophy winning feat, after they won the World Club Championship in December. That night the game ended in a tight 1-1 draw. Villareal pressurised Bar�a like never before, and Valdes became a key player in the game. Pedro scored the only Bar�a goal, and Fuster equalised in the 50th minute.

Third time lucky

Last year Bar�a finally beat Villarreal in one of those games that, according to Guardiola, was one of the most difficult of the season. "It was a fabulous match, the team had to play at their very best to win, and that says a lot about the quality of the opposition" Guardiola said at the press conference after the game.

Villa opened the scoring in the 21st minute. Pedro scored a second, but the referee gave a doubtful offside decision, that gave way to Villarreal scoring an equaliser. Lionel Messi scored two goals in the second half that decided the game, and made the final score 3-1.